June 5 is World Environment Day! Since it began in 1972, it has grown to become the single largest celebration of our environment each year. As the United Nations marks World Environment Day, it is anticipated that thousands of communities and organizations across the globe will participate in the celebration. The theme for this year’s celebration is Air Pollution.
The occasion is being used to urge governments, industry, communities, and individuals to come together to explore renewable energy and green technologies and improve air quality in cities and regions across the world. This is to help create awareness and cause actions to protect the environment from the harmful effects of air pollution.
There is no doubt that like air pollution, the effect of plastic waste on the environment can be devastating. Fortunately, researchers continue to find innovative ways of disposing of plastic waste. One of which is recycling them into essential products for the benefit of mankind.
Ever imagined that those plastic bottles you disposed of could be recycled into a blanket? Well, Emirates, the world’s leading airline brand has introduced new sustainable blankets made from 100% recycled plastics bottles. The soft and warm blankets are made using ecoThread™ patented technology and now available for passengers on Economy class on all long-haul Emirates flights.
With this novelty, Emirates is contributing to protecting the environment from plastic pollution while fostering recycling and innovation. Essentially, Emirates does not allow these plastics to go waste and affect the environment but turn them into blankets that protect humans. Passengers of Emirates have always had the opportunity to use this blanket.
Emirates environmentally-friendly blankets were designed in partnership with Buzz, the world’s leading inflight product specialists, and are part of Emirates’ continued commitment to product innovation and sustainability. Emirates already runs a green programme onboard recycling aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles, and clean paper products such as newspapers, magazines and cardboard cartons where possible.
By the close of this year, it is estimated that Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blankets would have rescued 88 million plastic bottles from landfills– equivalent to the weight of 44 A380 aircraft. This initiative makes it the largest sustainable blanket programme on board in the airline industry. In addition, the manufacturing process of using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reduces energy emissions by 70%.
ecoTHREAD™ is certified with the Intertek Green Leaf Mark by third-party testing and certification body Intertek, independently verified to use 100% recycled materials.
The Emirates ecoTHREAD™ blanket for Economy Class completes the recent comforter overhaul across all three classes.
As the world celebrates World Environmental Day, Emirates as an agent of change continues to commit to the sustainability of the environment. For Emirates, sustainability and eco-efficiency are the cornerstones of its operations both in the air and on the ground. The ecoThread™ blankets initiative is a testament of the airline’s commitment to environmentally-responsible operations by complying with all applicable environmental regulations and standards.
At the state of the Emirates Engineering Centre in Dubai, the airline uses a dryash technique to clean its aircraft, saving millions of litres of water each year.
Other initiatives include the installation of a one-megawatt array of solar photovoltaic panels which generates over 1, 800 megawatt-hours of electricity every year. Emirates also operates one of the world’s youngest and most fuel-efficient fleet of aircraft – a significant investment in reducing its environmental impact.
