Ecoffee Cup and easyJet win at Onboard Aviation Awards 

In an industry-first, easyJet’s entire in-flight workforce switched to reusable Ecoffee Cup to-go cups and cutlery sets – to prevent the use of millions of single-use items. 

The program saw both Ecoffee Cup and easyJet win the Service Equipment: Crew Category at the Onboard Hospitality Awards 2024 in Hamburg.

Ecoffee Cup Business Development Manager Jeremy Hassett was there to receive the award alongside easyJet’s Angie Mullen and Stuart Cant. 

In total, it is estimated that the initiative will remove over 10 million single-use items from waste streams each year – equivalent to 71 tonnes.

A total of 14,000 staff, both pilots and cabin crew, were provided with their own Ecoffee Cup reusable to-go cup and cutlery set, with another 2,000 new entrant crew to receive the same by the end of 2024.

The challenge

In late 2021, easyJet had sourced over 35 cups however none of them was suitable due to safety concerns and the size of the flight deck cup holder.

easyJet then approached Ecoffee Cup who sprang into action and by working collaboratively using a 3D design model, designed various prototypes that easyJet then selected to go forward with.

To complement the cup, easyJet also requested a cutlery pack for all easyJet crew. This had to be compliant from an aviation security perspective and able to go through regular airport security checks across the easyJet network.

The Ecoffee Cup products were trialled across the UK and Europe in October 2022, with overwhelmingly positive feedback from easyJet staff.

Implementation 

Soon after the trial, easyJet commenced the rollout across the fleet, intending to have all crew 100% single-use-free as soon as possible in 2024.

easyJet’s Angie Mullen, who headed up the project, said the collaboration with Ecoffee Cup was excellent. 

“Ecoffee Cup designed and manufactured cutlery that effectively replaced our single-use items on board whilst still being robust and could travel through all security checks,” she said.

“The crew have received the cups and cutlery with great positivity.”