Air cargo eco managers say sustainability is not just a cost, but a source of savings
 A panel of air cargo environmental managers attending the World Cargo Symposium of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Dubai agreed that one aspect of sustainability had been neglected for far too long - waste.
The transition to recycling of a circular economy in air cargo isn’t a quick fix or a corporate buzzword, they said in an article in Mumbai's Stat Trade Times. It's a paradigm shift. It requires letting go of linear thinking and reimagining waste as a strategic asset - not an unavoidable cost.
For it to work, panellists agreed, one had to think big. The problem isn’t just material choice. It’s also about volume. Without scale, circular solutions - like reusable cargo wraps or cardboard pallets — struggle to achieve economic viability.
Said LATAM Cargo's operations chief Daniel Leng: "It starts with creating experimental hubs. LATAM uses its operations in Santiago and Miami as 'labs' to test circular solutions like reusable pallets, biodegradable straps and new loading procedures.
“In Miami, we’ve replaced single-use plastic wraps for flower imports with reusable blankets. It keeps the flowers dry during rain, performs better than plastic, and is reused endlessly," said Mr Leng.
He also spoke of LATAM’s Second Flight initiative: “We collect old uniforms from our crew and give them to local artisans to create purses, wallets and other goods. Instead of ending up in landfills, they get a second life - and empower local communities.”
Even cargo pallets haven’t been spared. “We now inspect the wooden pallets brought in by customers. If they’re operational, we reuse them. If damaged, we repair them. This helped us cut pallet purchases for exports by 100 per cent and for imports by 50 per cent.”
And in Santiago, LATAM's use of bright red plastic pallets - made from recycled soda crates - has not only helped reduce waste but also loss: “Since we’re the only ones using red, we no longer lose them. It’s a small but smart win for operations and the planet.”
Said ground handling and catering service provider SATS (Singapore Airport Terminal Services) vice president Celine Hourcade: “As a group, we’ve committed to a sustainability strategy centred on climate change, shared value, and circular economy. We’re not just flying sustainably — we’re redesigning our culture around it.”
As SATS’ Ms Hourcade said a fundamental mindset change is needed: “You have to start with your local teams, test what works in your own context, and once you understand the impact, you can expand and apply those learnings to operations across the network,” she said.
Circularity isn’t a parallel track to sustainability - it’s the infrastructure that underpins it. From siloed operations to shared intelligence to the recognition that most air cargo terminals operate in isolation.
Cathay Cargo Terminal’s sustainability chief Michelle Fok acknowledged that, despite belonging to a major airline group, her team at Cathay Cargo Terminal had limited visibility into the innovations or challenges faced by others.
“We don’t really have a very big network of talking to each other,” she admitted. “If we’re limiting ourselves to just our own operations and local knowledge, it means we’re also limiting our ability to learn from some of the good practices happening elsewhere - whether that’s in the UK, the US, or even in Chile,” she said.
“If we’re limiting ourselves to just our own operations and local knowledge, it means we’re also limiting our ability to learn from some of the good practices happening elsewhere - whether that’s in the UK, the US, or even in Chile,” she said.
This lack of communication is more than an operational inconvenience - it’s a lost opportunity, said Ms Fok, adding that in a sector defined by global connectivity, the internal fragmentation is stark.
If the industry can move containers across oceans in 24 hours, surely it can move knowledge across departments, the panellists agreed.
One obstacle to enhancing sustainability was the lack of a procurement strategy. In many organisations, procurement is treated as a compliance function - focused on cost, volume, and delivery. But in a circular model, procurement becomes a strategic driver of change, they said.
Said LATAM Cargo’s Mr Leng: “If you say, ‘Okay, I’m just going to decide based on price,’ then you’re not being true to what you’re claiming as a sustainability-led company.”
In practice, Ms Fok said, that means choosing materials not only for their performance or cost but also based on recyclability, reusability, and environmental origin. It means embedding sustainability into contracts, so vendors are held to the same values as the buyer. And it means pushing beyond superficial certifications to demand operational transparency.
“If we’re limiting ourselves to just our own operations and local knowledge, it means we’re also limiting our ability to learn from some of the good practices happening elsewhere,” she said.
Said Mr Leng: “We’re not quite there yet,, “but if you don’t involve your suppliers from the beginning - if you’re not clear about your sustainability expectations - it’s going to be very difficult to make any progress.”
Another obstacle to advancing the sustainability front is local regulation, said Mr Leng.
“All of our sustainability initiatives - every single one of them - came from our frontline teams. That’s where innovation lives. All they needed was support and room to explore.
“Sustainability isn’t always a cost centre. In many of our projects, it helped us save money, simplify operations, and reduce waste. You just have to give your people the space to innovate.”
But "regulatory disarray" looms as the enemy of progress. Regulations are deeply local, they agreed. For multinationals like SATS and LATAM, this fragmentation poses a significant challenge.
“We operate in 27 countries,” SATS’ Ms Hourcade noted. “We have to face different jurisdictions, different regulations, and they are not consistent with one another.”
Said Mr Leng: “Some companies can do it in one country but not in another, simply because local regulation doesn’t allow you to take that step. That lack of consistency makes it harder to implement good practices at scale.”
Said IAG Cargo sustainability chief Saleem Saeed: “But if we can align incentives, if we can be transparent, and if we can share learnings, then we have a fighting chance.”
This inconsistency isn’t just frustrating, he said, it is a strategic risk. "It creates inefficiencies, undermines ROI, and disincentivises innovation," he said.
All three panellists agreed: industry bodies like IATA must take the lead in establishing common guidelines and global standards. The missing piece: Standardisation across the chain. Circularity isn't just about reusing materials, it’s about designing systems that make reuse possible. |
