WTCE’s Taste of Travel Theatre spotlights sustainability
Attendees enjoying the Taste of Travel Theatre at WTCE in 2023
The organizers of World Travel Catering & Onboard Services Expo (WTCE) have announced that this year’s Taste of Travel Theatre line-up will showcase sustainability. Taste of Travel Theatre, sponsored by En Route International, will see panelists from airlines, rail services, consultancies and leading industry associations discuss the challenges operators face in reducing their environmental footprint.
Understanding the scale of the cabin waste problem provides a reference point for developing solutions to cabin waste reduction and circularity. With the support of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and several major airlines – the Aviation Sustainability Forum (ASF) has recently completed a Cabin Waste Composition Audit Program hosted by caterer, SATS Ltd. in Singapore. The results of the research will be announced at the Taste of Travel Theatre this year. Said results will highlight the challenges the sector faces on cabin waste reduction, complexity and circularity, the cost to airlines and caterers, along with the environmental impact.
In this extended session, a panel of experts from across the sector will address the size and scale of the problem and explore potential solutions that can be implemented quickly. Panelists will debate how this requires a review of the regulatory barriers to circularity and the collaborative cross-sector discussions that are key to creating inflight products and services that meet these needs.
Matt Crane, founding member of ASF and 2024 WTCE Ambassador for Sustainability, will moderate the session. Crane will also set the scene for debate in his keynote speech on May 28 for the show opening.
“The ASF-IATA Cabin Waste Composition Audit Programme is the first of its kind to be completed to this scale and depth. We hope the audits will provide the sector with the foundations to help develop the cabin waste solutions of the future and are delighted to finally share the findings at this year’s WTCE. I’m particularly looking forward to discussing with the panel how we can use this data to assess the challenges we face and take a more in-depth look at the potential solutions as part of the sessions at Taste of Travel this year,” Crane said.
Taste of Travel Theatre will be located in Hall A1 at the Hamburg Messe from May 28 to 30 a this year’s WTCE. All sessions are free to attend.
