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Air New Zealand serves edible coffee cups to combat waste

Source: AirNewZealand/BBC

New Zealand’s national carrier is experimenting with a new vanilla-flavoured edible coffee cup that will further reduce waste produced on board its planes.

Air New Zealand debuts edible coffee cups to reduce waste

New Zealand’s national carrier says it is trialling edible coffee cups in a bid to reduce the amount of waste on board its planes. The cups, by local company Twiice, are made from vanilla-flavoured biscotti – and are apparently "leak-proof". Air New Zealand, which serves more than eight million cups of coffee a year, said it wants to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills.

The cups, by local company Twiice, are made from vanilla-flavoured biscotti - and are apparently
Each cup is a slightly different shape and size due to their unique construction. The cups, by local company Twiice, are made from vanilla-flavoured biscotti – and are apparently “leak-proof” Source: AirNewZealand/CNN

Coffee & Biscuit in one

New Zealand’s national carrier is experimenting with a new edible coffee cup that will further reduce waste produced on board their flights. Although the airline had already switched to biodegradable cups both on planes and in their branded lounges, they began looking into even more eco-friendly options.

To do this, the airline collaborated with New Zealand-based company Twiice, a family-run business dedicated to making edible plant-based cups that taste good as well as being good to the earth.

The cups now being rolled out on Air New Zealand flights are vanilla-flavoured and can withstand the heat of coffee without melting.

Source: CNN

“The cups have been a big hit with the customers who have used these and we’ve also been using the cups as dessert bowls.”
Air New Zealand senior manager for customer experience Niki Chave told Airline Ratings: “The cups have been a big hit with the customers who have used these and we’ve also been using the cups as dessert bowls.” Source: AirNewZealand/AirlineRatings

Twiice is working on a new, expanded line of edible plates and dishes

Air New Zealand customer experience manager Niki Chave told CNN in a statement that the airline serves 8 million cups of coffee on board its planes annually. And so far, the customers who have tested out the Twiice cups have given the taste a thumbs-up, she added.

This isn’t the first time Air New Zealand has made to go greener in the skies. In July 2019 the airline announced that condiments such as salad dressing and soy sauce would be served in small reusable bowls instead of individual plastic packets.

While the Twiice cups are currently a one-off partnership between the two companies, there may be additional opportunities for them to work together in the future.

Jamie Cashmore, a co-founder of Twiice, told CNN that the firm is working on a new, expanded line of edible plates and dishes, which could also work for Air New Zealand once they can be produced at scale.

Source: CNN

The cups are made from wheat flour, sugar, egg and vanilla essence and has been described as an “edible biscotti coffee cup” by the airline.
Twiice is also developing a chocolate flavoured cup and a gluten-free version. The cups are made from wheat flour, sugar, egg and vanilla essence and has been described as an “edible biscotti coffee cup” by the airline. Source: AirNewZealand/Sun
According to twiice, there’s no need for users to worry about the cups leaking and they will happily last until you’ve finished your drink.
As the cups are vanilla flavoured, there will be little impact on the taste of the coffee. According to twiice, there’s no need for users to worry about the cups leaking and they will happily last until you’ve finished your drink. Source: AirNewZealand/Sun
In a global first for the airline industry, and a defining moment for the sustainability of the planet, Portuguese carrier Hi Fly took to the skies around this time last year with the first ever jet-age passenger flight with not a single-use plastic item on board. The ‘plastics-free’ trial (involving a total of four flights by Hi Fly’s wide-body Airbus A340, 9H-SUN) jetted into the history books for the first time on December 26th 2018, when it took off from Lisbon on its way to Natal in Brazil. Learn more, click?
Hi Fly lead the world with plastic-free trial flight In a global first for the airline industry, and a defining moment for the sustainability of the planet, Portuguese carrier Hi Fly took to the skies around this time last year with the first ever jet-age passenger flight with not a single-use plastic item on board. The ‘plastics-free’ trial (involving a total of four flights by Hi Fly’s wide-body Airbus A340, 9H-SUN) jetted into the history books for the first time on December 26th 2018, when it took off from Lisbon on its way to Natal in Brazil. Learn more, click? Source: HiFly/Plastic-FreeFlight
Make an Impact

How to make your air travel (a bit) less damaging

People fly for many different reasons, justifiable or not, and striving to do it in a less invasive, more eco-friendly manner is always a good idea. We should all try to fly less and stay for longer when we go, but there are things everyone can do to lessen the impact. Here are 7 excellent suggestions from TreeHugger.com