Latest news with #JeffAngel
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Jetstar passenger request raises questions about popular menu items: 'Do better'
On a Thursday afternoon Jetstar flight, just minutes after meals were eaten, an attendant pushing a trolley asked passengers to separate their rubbish. 'Jetstar aims to recycle as much as possible,' the employee said. In Australia, it's a legal requirement passengers follow directions from flight crews, so everyone dutifully decoupled their beer bottles, Pringles packets, noodle boxes and forks. The attendant placed each item into separate plastic bags, but how many items were actually recycled remains a mystery. Most of us have been sorting our rubbish to help the planet for decades, but airlines have only recently started in-flight recycling of waste generated by the menu items they sell. Sustainability experts have welcomed the change, but say airlines must be completely transparent about their recycling efforts. Professor Lisa Given, an expert in innovation at RMIT, advocates for improvements in corporate social responsibility. She believes airlines have an added obligation to keep customers informed about waste processing because they assume responsibility for its processing by collecting it. 'Consumers need transparency… We want to see exactly what the airlines are doing on their side, and recycling is a big part of that,' she told Yahoo News. Jeff Angel, founder of waste-reduction non-profit Total Environment Centre, agrees, noting environment-conscious travellers are concerned about what happens to their rubbish. 'There's a very strong responsibility on the airlines to come clean on exactly what they're doing with recycling, and do better,' he said. 'If companies want to avoid concerns about greenwashing, they need to be rigorously transparent.' On international flights, it's often a biosecurity requirement that airlines hand over their waste to authorities, but domestically they have control over the rubbish they generate. Jetstar's onboard recycling program for domestic flights began in June 2023, and since then, it's 'collected' an impressive 135 tonnes, of which 60 tonnes was in the 2024 fiscal year. "While we're proud of their efforts, we know there's more work to do to enhance the program," its head of cabin crew Andrew Sinclair told Yahoo in a statement. 'We're continuing to work on improving our waste reduction and recycling initiatives, including sourcing in-flight products that use recyclable materials where possible, as well as making changes to meal packaging.' Virgin Australia is yet to begin in-flight recycling outside of Western Australia, but is in the process of changing waste providers to expand the practice to the east coast. "We recognise that we have a way to go but are actively progressing our key initiatives," a Virgin spokesperson said. Qantas's sustainability efforts are harder to understand. Yahoo sent several questions to the airline nine days ago, but it has yet to deliver a response. According to the airline's 2024 sustainability report, it had in-flight recycling covering 85 per cent of its networks, and collected 165 tonnes of commingled recycling. Twenty-five per cent of its onshore recoverable waste was collected for recycling or reuse. Given would like to see airlines engage more about how they're becoming more sustainable, but she notes they need to have facts and figures to share. 'We're a captive audience when we're on a plane, there's an opportunity during the messages about putting on our seatbelts for takeoff and landing. There are a lot of communication mechanisms for airlines to tell their stories, but the critical thing is the story needs to be there in the first place,' she said. 'If their recycling story is a good one, I'm sure that they would want to put that in front of their consumer base," she added. Sustainability is not just about recycling. Another important factor is how items like packaging, in-flight menus, and even garbage bags are produced in the first place. In particular, many customers want to be assured the wood and paper used on board are not sourced from forests where endangered species live. Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification is an assurance that the trees are harvested responsibly. Virgin's menus are FSC-certified and have an anti-bacterial covering that makes them more resilient, reducing wastage by up to 30 per cent. Its boarding passes, bag tags, and sick bags are also certified. Because personal information is printed on boarding passes, Virgin leaves it up to customers to recycle them independently. Bag tags can also go in the yellow bin, but only if the eyelet and string are removed. Sick bags are more of a problem because they're coated in plastic to prevent them from leaking. Other items used on Virgin flights, including tray liners, cart seals, napkins and water bottles, are made from 100 per cent recycled materials. We were unable to determine whether Qantas or Jetstar use ethically sourced paper. However, one notable Qantas achievement is that it began progressively switching from plastic cutlery to FSC-approved wooden alternatives in 2001. When it comes to plastic bags, all of those used in toilets are made from 100 per cent recycled plastic. The airline claims it hasn't been able to find a recycled product strong enough for its catering bags, but this is currently under review. Jetstar and Qantas did not provide any information on this subject to Yahoo. In France, short-haul flights have been banned to push travellers onto trains, which are more environmentally friendly. Fast trains are already the preferred option for domestic travel in Japan and China, and there are promises of similar services being developed in Australia, which if delivered could put pressure on airlines to lift their game. All three airlines have bold ambitions to have zero landfill, excluding quarantine waste, with Qantas and Jetstar committing to 2030 and Virgin 2032. While this is commendable, many consumers are sceptical when companies make announcements that won't be achieved until well into the future. For instance, Toohey's announced it would phase out single-use plastic by the end of 2025, but that proved 'expensive' and the beer company said it needed more time. Coca-Cola also walked backwards on its plastic reduction commitments. Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Labor commits to national packaging rules, as Planet Ark collapses
Nationally, Australia has committed to 70 per cent of plastic packaging being recycled by next year. The most recent figures suggest we are less than halfway there. The packaging and consumer goods industry has abandoned its long-held antipathy to government regulation, and has been calling for a mandatory scheme to ensure national consistency and that the costs are fairly shared. In February, the federal Environment Department published the results of a government consultation that showed a clear majority of respondents supported Commonwealth regulation of packaging. In August last year, co-regulator APCO announced plans to slug businesses hundreds of millions of dollars by 2027 to reduce packaging. Planet Ark's financial statements to the charity regulator are more than a year overdue. The 2022 report, the most recent available, listed revenue of $3.08 million and expenses of $3.79 million. Goods and services, such as corporate sponsorships, partnerships and consulting accounted for more than 85 per cent of income. The organisation is involved in a number of voluntary product stewardship schemes, including Batteries 4 Planet Ark, Cartridges 4 Planet Ark and Mobile Muster. It was awarded $940,000 from the National Product Stewardship Investment Fund under the former Coalition government to set up PODcycle to recycle aluminium and plastic coffee pods, but so far it has a pilot program in only five retailers and two cafes in NSW and Victoria. Recycling industry insiders, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said many corporations were delaying investing in new schemes while awaiting details from the federal government and APCO. Jeff Angel, director of the Boomerang Alliance, said Planet Ark was too close to industry. 'What they did by creating those schemes, and they would get money from industry for that … is they would give credibility or legitimacy to those weak schemes,' Angel said. 'Voluntary schemes always fail to make a significant impact, so it was on the verge of greenwashing because industry used it to oppose much stronger regulatory schemes.' Angel said the emerging support for regulation in the packaging industry was a shift in approach, given it took 13 years of advocacy to get container deposit schemes up and running. When asked what gap it would leave if Planet Ark closed its doors, Angel said: 'Not much'. Loading However, Louise Hyland, chief executive of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, said Planet Ark was a 'leading environmental organisation' that had helped educate Australians and promote recycling, and she hoped the restructure would allow it to survive. A partnership meant that Planet Ark promoted Mobile Muster, but the program was run independently and would continue regardless, she said. Dee, a co-founder of Planet Ark who was part of the organisation from 1992 to 2007, severed ties in 2012 over the organisation's partnership with the timber industry. He said he had spoken to administrators and set up a meeting for next week to understand the financial problems and whether he could be involved in restructuring. Loading 'How do we bring Planet Ark back to what it used to be ... it really drove the agenda on a whole range of environmental topics and created real change,' Dee said. Dee agreed it needed to be mandatory for manufacturers to fund recycling. 'We're not getting results that warrant a continuation of the voluntary approach,' he said. 'It's not working.'
The Age
02-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Labor commits to national packaging rules, as Planet Ark collapses
Nationally, Australia has committed to 70 per cent of plastic packaging being recycled by next year. The most recent figures suggest we are less than halfway there. The packaging and consumer goods industry has abandoned its long-held antipathy to government regulation, and has been calling for a mandatory scheme to ensure national consistency and that the costs are fairly shared. In February, the federal Environment Department published the results of a government consultation that showed a clear majority of respondents supported Commonwealth regulation of packaging. In August last year, co-regulator APCO announced plans to slug businesses hundreds of millions of dollars by 2027 to reduce packaging. Planet Ark's financial statements to the charity regulator are more than a year overdue. The 2022 report, the most recent available, listed revenue of $3.08 million and expenses of $3.79 million. Goods and services, such as corporate sponsorships, partnerships and consulting accounted for more than 85 per cent of income. The organisation is involved in a number of voluntary product stewardship schemes, including Batteries 4 Planet Ark, Cartridges 4 Planet Ark and Mobile Muster. It was awarded $940,000 from the National Product Stewardship Investment Fund under the former Coalition government to set up PODcycle to recycle aluminium and plastic coffee pods, but so far it has a pilot program in only five retailers and two cafes in NSW and Victoria. Recycling industry insiders, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said many corporations were delaying investing in new schemes while awaiting details from the federal government and APCO. Jeff Angel, director of the Boomerang Alliance, said Planet Ark was too close to industry. 'What they did by creating those schemes, and they would get money from industry for that … is they would give credibility or legitimacy to those weak schemes,' Angel said. 'Voluntary schemes always fail to make a significant impact, so it was on the verge of greenwashing because industry used it to oppose much stronger regulatory schemes.' Angel said the emerging support for regulation in the packaging industry was a shift in approach, given it took 13 years of advocacy to get container deposit schemes up and running. When asked what gap it would leave if Planet Ark closed its doors, Angel said: 'Not much'. Loading However, Louise Hyland, chief executive of the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association, said Planet Ark was a 'leading environmental organisation' that had helped educate Australians and promote recycling, and she hoped the restructure would allow it to survive. A partnership meant that Planet Ark promoted Mobile Muster, but the program was run independently and would continue regardless, she said. Dee, a co-founder of Planet Ark who was part of the organisation from 1992 to 2007, severed ties in 2012 over the organisation's partnership with the timber industry. He said he had spoken to administrators and set up a meeting for next week to understand the financial problems and whether he could be involved in restructuring. Loading 'How do we bring Planet Ark back to what it used to be ... it really drove the agenda on a whole range of environmental topics and created real change,' Dee said. Dee agreed it needed to be mandatory for manufacturers to fund recycling. 'We're not getting results that warrant a continuation of the voluntary approach,' he said. 'It's not working.'
