Challenge Overview

Cathay Pacific is looking for solutions to reduce the volume of, or replace, use of single use plastic in headphone and blanket wrappings in-flight.

The innovations must take in-flight operational constraints into consideration, have the potential to be applied in an efficient, cost-effective, practical, and scalable manner and be applicable in the geographies where Cathay Pacific is located.

Solutions could include but are not limited to:

• Bioplastics
• Alternative materials – paper could be considered only if the solutions consider the heterogeneous availability of wrapping airport infrastructure and labor requirements
• Plastic catalysts
• Post-consumer, advanced, or chemically recycled plastics

Main Requirements

The material needs to resist transportation and manipulations, including heat sealing operation, and should not require labor-intensive manipulation to wrap the blankets or headsets. Ideally, the material is biodegradable and the bio-degradation process should work in aerobic and anaerobic environments, in the likely case it is disposed of in a landfill.

The solution will be applied in Cathay Pacific flights after validating materials. To comply with the highest sustainability standards, the company wants to find an EU-compliant solution that might be implemented on all its flights.

What we are not interested in

Solutions that may not be degraded, if not recycled, in an anaerobic environment. Solutions that require labor-intensive manipulation. Solutions that would only pack the blankets partially.

Closing date for applications

30 July 2023

How to apply

Please send an overview of the solution, how you will solve the problem, and a pitch deck about the company to adrien.dewalque@cleantech.com

About Swire Pacific / Opco

Cathay Pacific, founded in 1946, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have scheduled passenger and cargo services to over 190 destinations and are present in more than 60 countries worldwide, including codeshares and joint ventures. Cathay Pacific’s sustainable measures include the reduction of single-use plastic, fuel-efficient aircraft, and food waste sent for energy recovery.