Ryanair to turn all its flights plastic neutral by 2023

As part of its ongoing makeover, Ryanair has made a new green promise pledging to eliminate non-recyclable plastics in all its operations within 5 years.

The low-cost European airline published its “Always Getting Better” plan, setting out a 5-year plan to improve its operations, including its environmental performance.

In the lines of greening its profile, Ryanair pledged it will switch to biodegradable cups, wooden cutlery and boost paper packaging during its flights removing plastics from a range of in-flight products.

The pledge is not only limited to onboard operations, but the company also aims to turn its headquarters and bases equally plastic free.

Kenny Jacobs, Ryanair’s chief marketing officer, said: “It’s not just in-flight food and drink. We’re looking at the plastic parts within the aircraft and what’s nonrecyclable and how do we work with the original equipment manufacturers to move to more recyclable plastics within the aircraft and the operation.”

However, he emphasised the challenges of achieving zero non-recyclable plastics saying that the company will be evaluating the progress of the plan within the next few years.

In addition, to further its environmental action Ryanair will also launch a scheme to allow customers to offset the carbon cost of their flights. The new offset programme will be voluntary in nature and the contributions will be donated to climate charities.

The move is definitely considered progress since last year’s headlines that reported Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary declaring that he doesn’t accept that climate change is real and he doesn’t acknowledge the correlation between carbon consumption and global warming.

Besides the environmental aspect of its “Always Getting Better” plan, the airline pledged to establish a dedicated claims team to make it easier for customers to claim compensation in the event of delays and cancellations- something that the company has been criticised for extensively.

It also made a ‘price promise’, allowing customers to receive a refund of the difference plus an extra €5 in case they find their flight at a lower fare.