No more plastic cups for Alaska Airlines

Your ginger ale will no longer be served in plastic cups if you’re flying alaska airline.

The Seattle-based airline says it has completely eliminated plastic cups on its flights, replacing it with paper cups. It’s part of a sustainability effort that the airline says will eliminate the use of nearly 55 million plastic cups each year.

Alaska will now serve in-flight beverages in Board-certified reusable paper or glassware (in first class). FSC certification products from “responsibly managed” forests, according to their website.

Alaska said the move makes it the first US airline to completely remove single-use plastic cups from its flights. alaska start to decrease plastic in 2018 as part of a broader sustainability effort, starting with the elimination of plastic straws and stirrers.

In addition to drinks, food and supplies on flights are also often wrapped and served in plastic. Given that billions of people fly each year, it’s unclear how much waste airlines generate in-flight.

However, with the discussion around sustainability at the forefront, the airline industry has sought to limit waste on flights. Shortly after Alaska announced it would stop using plastic straws and stirrers, other major US airlines such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines followed suit.

At that time, Americans vowed to use alternatives to plastic flatware and its lounge agitator. United says it will instead of, replace plastic straws and bamboo stirrer. Delta announced the plan to dispose of other single-use items such as utensils, wrapping paper, agitators, and straws.

As for Alaska, it has launched a series of sustainability initiatives over the past few years, such as service Canned drinks on the flight and encouragement for passengers fill in their own water bottle before boarding.

Alaska also said target strives to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 through a variety of strategies, such as expanding the use of sustainable aviation fuels.