tonnes of waste generated by passenger airports every year, most of it post-security, from food and retail.

Circular economy in travel retail is still early stage. A few airlines are already showing what's possible.

From what I've seen, at least, circular economy thinking hasn't really connected to product categories in travel retail yet. That's just my own observation though, not a survey finding, and I'd genuinely welcome being told I'm wrong. What I do know is that a couple of airlines are far enough along on this that they're worth studying properly, not as inspiration, but as a working blueprint for what closed-loop actually looks like at scale.

Two benchmarks worth knowing

Emirates launched a closed-loop recycling programme for inflight plastic serviceware back in 2023, and it's still running. Their FY2024-25 Annual Report shows 64,060 tonnes of waste recycled, reused or composted across the Group, up 2.4% on the year before. On 4 June 2026, Emirates reported repurposing over 88,000kg of plastic from damaged trays, casseroles and bowls back into new serviceware in the past twelve months alone, remanufactured at a specialist facility in Dubai and containing up to 25% recycled material. Genuinely good work, and worth saying so plainly.

Delta is taking a different but equally current route. According to their 2025 Delta Difference Report, published 2026, Delta added composting to a fourth catering kitchen, at Boston Logan, during 2025. This year they're piloting a redesigned onboard recycling process that reduces reliance on airport-side infrastructure, with an international recycling pilot planned for select inbound routes this autumn. Another example of a big carrier quietly doing the work, credit where it's due.

Different materials, different problems, same underlying discipline: treat waste as a resource still in circulation rather than an endpoint. BCG's Circelligence framework, now used by companies like Hilti Group, gives larger organisations a way to map exactly this, tracking what flows into a business, what it does with that material while it's in use, and what leaves the business at end of life. One honest observation though, programmes like these don't get much regular public visibility once the initial announcement lands. Genuinely good work seems to happen quietly, and updates surface mainly around anniversaries or sustainability report cycles rather than as an ongoing conversation. That's not a criticism of either airline, more a comment on how thin the reporting cadence tends to be across the industry generally.

From what I can see, at least, most travel retail suppliers haven't really connected what Emirates and Delta are doing at fleet level to what it could mean for their own product ranges. That's just my own observation though, and it doesn't mean nothing's happening behind the scenes. There's a decent chance plenty of suppliers already have good work in progress and are simply waiting until it's ready before talking about it publicly, which is a reasonable way to operate. Still, I think there's a real opportunity in being one of the first to draw that line explicitly rather than waiting.

We're not ready to share all the details publicly yet, but if you're curious about the world first we're working on, or just want to talk through how circular thinking could apply to your own category mix, reply and let's talk. No pressure either way.

That's it for this edition. More on the world first, soon.

A bit more info, as always.

Adam

Commercial Director · Bitmore · adam@bitmore.co.uk