Alaska Airlines eliminates plastic cups on board

Alaska Airlines is the first U.S. airline to eliminate plastic cups on board.

Alaska Airlines announces the completion of its transition to paper cups for inflight beverages, a move which eliminates more than 55 million plastic cups annually and replaces them with a more planet-friendly alternative.

All inflight beverages on Alaska flights are now served in Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper cups or reusable glassware for most First-Class services. Alaska Airlines began the process of eliminating its five largest sources of plastic waste in 2018 by removing plastic straws and stir sticks from inflight service – a first for any airline at the time.

As part of its broader sustainability efforts, Alaska continues to pursue product innovations and supply chain advancements to achieve its 2025 goal of replacing the top five waste-producing items from onboard service and continuing to recycle. In 2021, Alaska established climate goals for its impacts in carbon, waste, and water while defining a five-part pathway to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 to keep the places we live and fly beautiful and viable for generations to come.

Here are some of the ways Alaska Airlines is eliminating its top sources of plastic waste on board to reduce its impact on the environment:

• Eliminating plastic cups on board with responsibly-sourced paper cups.
• Replacing plastic water bottles with Boxed Water™.
• Encouraging guests to #FillBeforeYouFly to plant more trees.
• Ditching plastic straws & stir sticks in 2018.

This article was originally published by Alaska Airlines.