CW bed linen wrapped in plastic - why?
May 20, 2019, 2:25 am
#1
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CW bed linen wrapped in plastic - why?
I noticed in my last couple of flights that bed linen comes wrapped in plastic. As this already comes inside a protective pouch, why does BA do this? Doesn't anyone look/care about the unnecessary amount of waste generated?
May 20, 2019, 2:36 am
#3
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It would be so nice if CW had bed linen rather than just the mattress pad/blanket/day blanket combo. Missing that from the old Austrian service!
May 20, 2019, 2:37 am
#4
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You make yourself comfortable on the fabric of a seat used by thousands of people and then your inflight linen needs to be "uncontaminated"? I really don't see the point.
May 20, 2019, 2:42 am
#5
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This has been discussed at great length internally and wrapping each item individually saves on a significant amount of waste due to less items being laundered. Those that aren’t opened are used again. More work is being done on this apparently.
May 20, 2019, 2:50 am
#6
Join Date: Jun 2016
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Unfortunately, using plastic packaging is probably the only way to really know whether or not an item of linen has been used or not - if not, there is a considerable saving of water and detergent to be made by simply re-using it rather than sending every single item to the laundry...
Swings & roundabouts: however you look at it, the airline business is trying hard but will never be a 'low consumption' endeavour...
Swings & roundabouts: however you look at it, the airline business is trying hard but will never be a 'low consumption' endeavour...
May 20, 2019, 2:57 am
#7
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Your frequent flights contribute a great deal more to global warming and the destruction of the environment than does your bedding being wrapped in plastic.
May 20, 2019, 3:04 am
#8
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May 20, 2019, 3:05 am
#9
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Two wrongs don't make a right. We need to limit consumption where we can. Being a BA frequent flier does not entitle us to uncontrolled consumption in all other parts of life.
May 20, 2019, 3:10 am
#10
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I agree - but a frequent flyer complaining about a few grams of excess plastic packaging might, to some people, come across as ever so slightly hypocritical.
May 20, 2019, 3:14 am
#11
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Absolutely, someone else reads Yammer.
May 20, 2019, 3:19 am
#12
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At least on the Heathrow end everything non-recyclable is incinerated by Grundon and turned onto cinder blocks and I believe that US airports also incinerate all their waste which means that the majority of BA flights do not send anything to landfill.
Landfill disposal might occur in other countries where they have fewer concerns around bio-security.
Landfill disposal might occur in other countries where they have fewer concerns around bio-security.
May 20, 2019, 3:33 am
#13
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 858
I sort of question the point of the whole CW package. On a flight back from Denver, most people just dumped the "mattress" thingy in the overhead bin. Too much of a faf to use.
(and no point in asking the cabin crew - they were having enough trouble dealing with the meal service)
Glad to hear unused items are being reused since their individual plastic would have been unopened.
(and no point in asking the cabin crew - they were having enough trouble dealing with the meal service)
Glad to hear unused items are being reused since their individual plastic would have been unopened.
May 20, 2019, 3:34 am
#14
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OK, well I don't have my face and mouth in close contact with the "seat used by others", so I'm not sure how that's relevant. Unless the suggestion is that we just reuse the bedding without having it laundered. Good luck selling that one to J passengers.
The "war on plastic" is a very blunt instrument and arguably more to do with PR than reality. In many cases, use of plastic as an implement or barrier is far cheaper and environmentally sensible than alternatives, and it's used to prevent over-processing (including cleaning, which requires energy and chemicals) or waste. You have to be careful to consider the entire environmental impact of any artefact rather than greenwashing the obvious front end things.
The idea that eschewing a straw in your onboard drink, or plastic bag around clean bedding is "doing your bit to save the planet" is in most cases illusory, as BA will be managing waste responsibly. The problem of waste in the oceans is principally a symptom of the lower availability of infrastructure in the developing world, where in the first place plastic is used (to take one example) to bottle clean drinking water, creating the waste, and where that waste ends up in watercourses in significant quantities.
So actually that is the problem to solve, but noting also that Malaysia (to take a developing world example I know well) is already limiting single use plastics led by pressure from the younger population. But this is moving into omni territory - my conclusion in terms of whether BA are doing the right thing by using plastic bags is that in all probability they are, but as with pretty much every large organisation on the planet they will be looking to do more.
The "war on plastic" is a very blunt instrument and arguably more to do with PR than reality. In many cases, use of plastic as an implement or barrier is far cheaper and environmentally sensible than alternatives, and it's used to prevent over-processing (including cleaning, which requires energy and chemicals) or waste. You have to be careful to consider the entire environmental impact of any artefact rather than greenwashing the obvious front end things.
The idea that eschewing a straw in your onboard drink, or plastic bag around clean bedding is "doing your bit to save the planet" is in most cases illusory, as BA will be managing waste responsibly. The problem of waste in the oceans is principally a symptom of the lower availability of infrastructure in the developing world, where in the first place plastic is used (to take one example) to bottle clean drinking water, creating the waste, and where that waste ends up in watercourses in significant quantities.
So actually that is the problem to solve, but noting also that Malaysia (to take a developing world example I know well) is already limiting single use plastics led by pressure from the younger population. But this is moving into omni territory - my conclusion in terms of whether BA are doing the right thing by using plastic bags is that in all probability they are, but as with pretty much every large organisation on the planet they will be looking to do more.
May 20, 2019, 4:06 am
#15
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How about the waste created during the production of that item? And the disposal of that item? And the transportation of that item?