Dubai: Emirates airline has introduced new blankets made from 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles. The soft and warm blankets are made using ecoTHREAD patented technology and are now available in Economy Class on all long-haul Emirates flights.
Each Emirates ecoTHREAD blanket is made of 28 recycled plastic bottles. The bottles are recycled into plastic chips before being turned into yarn, creating a polar fleece material. The fine thread is then woven into soft blankets.
The environmentally friendly blankets were designed in partnership with Buzz, a leading in-flight product specialist, and are part of Emirates’ “continued commitment to product innovation and sustainability”. Emirates already runs a green programme on board recycling aluminium cans, plastic and glass bottles, and clean paper products such as newspapers, magazines and cardboard cartons, where possible.
By the end of 2019, Emirates ecoTHREAD blankets would have diverted 88 million plastic bottles from landfills, weighing a total of 12,316 tonnes — equivalent to the weight of 44 A380 aircraft. This initiative makes it the “largest sustainable blanket programme on board in the airline industry”, Emirates said. Additionally, the manufacturing process of using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reduces energy emissions by 70 per cent, it added.
ecoTHREAD is certified with the Intertek Green Leaf Mark by third-party testing and certification body Intertek.
The Emirates ecoTHREAD blanket for Economy Class completes the recent comforter overhaul across all three classes. The airline has introduced a plush, faux sheep-skin blanket in First Class and soft duvets in Business Class.
