Avianca Cargo, one of the largest cargo airlines in the region, announced that it has replaced the use of conventional plastics with biodegradable plastics from BioNatur Plastics, to be used as pallet covers at each station of the operation.
In the time of working together, more than 1,000 boxes have been purchased, thus avoiding the equivalent of more than 3.2 million 16 oz. plastic bottles ending up in a landfill.
Traditional plastic can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in a landfill, and biodegradable plastics only 8 to 12 years.
In addition, the biodegradable plastics used by the company retain the same quality as conventional plastic and can be recycled for a second use.
“At Avianca Cargo we are very excited about the change from conventional plastics to biodegradable plastics from BioNatur Plastics for our operations.
We are committed to mitigating the environmental impact of the air cargo industry and will continue to work towards projects that contribute to this mission,” stated Diogo Elias, Avianca Cargo’s senior vice president.
It is worth noting that this partnership stems from the company’s most recent sustainability initiative, CargoLab Sostenible.
The activity consisted of the voluntary participation of employees who submitted different ideas on how to contribute to the environment from their respective roles.
To this end, the employees had, over a period of time, different training sessions to plan and develop their projects, which were presented to different judges where 4 were selected to be materialized.
“We are proud that Avianca Cargo recognized BioNatur’s biodegradable and recyclable plastics as one of the best solutions for use in their operations, being the only one that works in all scenarios such as recycling, landfill and incineration,” added Chris Paladino, CEO of BioNatur Plastics.
Avianca Cargo is convinced that the implementation of this project will continue to bring great environmental benefits and that it is the first achievement of future projects to be celebrated under the Sustainable CargoLab.
