Intervine and Better Earth dish out compostable serviceware for airlines
This is a special feature from the September 2025 IFSA Global EXPO issue of PAX International, on page 28.
Better Earth provides durable, BPI-certified compostable serviceware alongside infrastructure partnerships, digital tools and consulting to help airlines expand and manage sustainable waste solutions
Reducing inflight waste remains a growing challenge within the aviation industry. To provide sustainable solutions, Intervine, a food and beverage partner for airlines and cruise lines, has teamed up with Better Earth, a specialist in compostable serviceware.
Adopting eco-friendly tableware comes with challenges. “It is difficult for crew to always separate waste into recycling and landfill bins in the small, fast-paced environment of a cabin,” notes Amy Jullien, Corporate Vice President at Intervine. Composting infrastructure also varies. “An airline's flight path may land at one airport that has a composting facility, but its next destination may not,” she explains. Even when carriers switch to compostables, domestic or international waste restrictions often send items to landfill.
Better Earth addresses these challenges through a combination of products and services. “Our role is to deliver high-performance, low impact serviceware while offering tools to help airlines manage local infrastructure, track metrics and avoid non-compliance risks,” Joseph Bild, CEO of Better Earth, tells PAX International.
Joseph Bild, CEO, Better Earth
The company’s Better Earthware line includes molded fiber containers, cutlery and cups that are BPI-certified, durable, heat-resistant and pressure-tolerant. Beyond products, the company partners with airports and municipalities to expand composting capacity and offers tools such as the Betterbin portal, a digital platform providing localized guidance for recycling and composting. Better Earth also provides policy consulting and lifecycle data to help airlines scale sustainability efforts.
Amy Jullien, Corporate Vice President, Intervine
Performance and credibility remain essential. “Sustainable serviceware must show outstanding performance without warping, leaking or breaking,” Jullien says, highlighting challenges such as ensuring paper cups hold high-grain alcohol for hours without losing integrity. ESG credentials, including B Corp and BPI certifications, are critical for procurement teams and caterers. “These validations give our partners confidence that our packaging performs as promised,” Bild notes.
“Buyers juggle a myriad of criteria to source the ideal sustainable product,” Jullien concludes. “Finding products that check every box and are cost effective is a very tall order. We are checking all those boxes.”
