How Cathay is recycling plastic bottles used inflight

At Cathay, we’re always striving to improve our sustainability efforts. As part of our ongoing aim to reduce waste generated in the cabin, we’re pioneering a plastic bottle recycling initiative in partnership with the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK).

Last year, we began collecting single-use plastic water bottles during inbound flights, sorting them at Hong Kong International Airport, then transporting them for processing by New Life Plastics , a plastic bottle recycling facility jointly established by Swire Coca-Cola, Baguio and Alba.

Between the pilot launch last April and the end of 2024, we collected more than 500,000 bottles for recycling – a figure that’ll continue to rise as we roll out our recycling initiative across our network and embrace a more circular economy model. This means using recycled plastics where possible, then returning used items to the supply chain via recycling.  

However, finding the most efficient way to collect the bottles involved careful consideration of passenger and crew needs. “We considered asking passengers to place their bottles into designated bags when exiting the aircraft, but that wasn’t feasible considering they might be carrying baggage and rushing to disembark,” says Minal Jain, Assistant Manager Sustainable Development at Cathay.

“For long-haul flights, we learned that the best time to collect is when passengers are clearing their things and getting ready for landing,” adds Julianna Wong, Inflight Customer Service Delivery Manager. “For ultra-short-haul flights, a small bottle is served on the meal tray. Our cabin crew can segregate the bottles as they remove the trays during the meal collection.”  

The AAHK supports our initiative by providing us with space at their Airside Waste Station. Here, a dedicated team processes bottles that are sent for recycling to New Life Plastics, which produces food-grade-ready plastic flakes that can be used to make new bottles. Water bottles used on Cathay Pacific flights departing from Hong Kong are all made with recycled plastic, including new Evian label-less bottles we launched this year. “We’re exploring technologies to enhance our efficiency and capacity from the current manual process,” says Tommy Wan, the AAHK’s Manager, Sustainability. “Cathay’s initiative is the first of its kind at Hong Kong International Airport. We aim to extend this to other airlines and promote a circular economy.”

As the initiative evolves, we’ll work with global airport authorities to expand recycling to outbound flights, too. We have a clear target to reduce our remaining passenger-facing plastics, including other plastic packaging used in flight, to 1.5 pieces per passenger by the end of 2025, as well as a goal to reduce total waste per passenger to 0.63kg by 2030. “If we set the precedent, passengers will get used to recycling on Cathay Pacific flights. Then, maybe, this will proliferate to other airlines until it becomes the norm,” says Jain. “The response has already been fantastic, from both passengers and crew members.”

So, when the crew come through the cabin towards the end of your flight, pass them your water bottle and start its journey to becoming something new.