Boeing has identified cabin interiors as “a really big opportunity space” for it to implement sustainability improvements. Observing that a growing number of passengers are making purchasing decisions based on the qualities of the companies they interact with, the US airframer is presently supporting several vendors as they work to bring new eco-conscious solutions on board.

Today, the cabin is the least most recyclable part of an aluminum aircraft. “We can reuse, recycle about 90% of an aluminum aircraft. The 10% that we can’t lives primarily in the cabin, ” Boeing sustainability director – product marketing Tasha Jackson told RGN at the Aircraft Interiors Expo (AIX) in Hamburg.

“The flame-retardant coatings that we have to put on means that a lot of the materials that we use can’t be recycled at the end of life. So, what we want to do is work with our industry to bring more sustainable materials on board to give new and novel opportunities for waste reduction, and to improve the passenger experience with more sustainable materials so you’re not sacrificing quality or luxury for sustainability; it’s all already there.”

Boeing is tackling the issue from two angles. “One is our own research projects where we might be trying to take our own waste material and turn it into something new. Or we work with our industry partners to bring their products to market faster,” Jackson said. It featured some of its partners’ products at AIX, including circular dress covers from Gen Phoenix, which uses leather waste in the form of trimmings and shavings and transforms it into high quality, certifiable leather-based ELeather products for use in aviation.

Working as an integrator with Gen Phoenix as well as with spacer fabrics specialist Müller Textil and seat cushion maker Aerofoam Industries, Boeing put together a stack that can be “separated from seat to foam and crushed up and rebuilt up again, so it’s fully circular, and that’s the first time that this has happened,” Jackson said.

“Gen Phoenix has been in existence for a very long time, but you know this is a new product. I’m just trying to bring that circular story into aviation.”

Also on display was Testori Textiles’ sustainable curtain material. “This is made from 100% bio-based vegetable fibers, or post-consumer water bottles,” Jackson explained.

“So, they’re actually doing a program where, if you send your old curtains back, they’ll give you credit towards new ones. And the way that they make these are more sustainable too. So, everyone is focused on improving their lifecycle emissions.”

In 2023, Lantal Textiles won a coveted Crystal Cabin Award in the Sustainable Cabin category for its groundbreaking, ultra-lightweight Deep Dyed Carpet, which improves the ecological footprint of aircraft cabins in multiple ways. “This is actually a huge success story,” Jackson said of the Lantal Deep Dyed Carpet. One swatch on Boeing’s stand featured 80% wool and 20% regenerative nylon while another was comprised of 100% regenerative nylon.

“The way that they make it is they digitally print the pattern on top, so this is 40% less emissions, 60% less water, 80% less waste, and it’s lighter weight, so this mid-weight one can save 50 pounds on a 737 and 120 pounds of weight on a 787,” Jackson said, admitting that these are “insane” weight savings, and in turn play a key role in driving sustainability forward.

Any new product brought on board Boeing aircraft must be durable as a “baseline,” Jackson stressed. Working as an integrator to these suppliers, Boeing is able to confirm they meet its requirements and “help support them through the process and going through qualification.”

Deep Dyed Carpet is “available today,” Jackson confirmed. “So that’s a really good news success story. And we aim to have the same kind of outcomes with a lot of our other projects.”

A prototype unit of a Sustainably Sanitized Water Dispenser from International Water Guard caught your author’s eye on Boeing’s stand.

“What’s so exciting about this is the ability for people to fill up their own water bottles,” Jackson said. “I’m one of those passengers. I always bring my own water bottle, but I may or may not have remembered to fill it up before getting on board.

“And so, a lot of times, the cabin crew are still using the huge water bottles or they might just give you a couple of tiny cups, but having a unit integrated into a bar area, or galley area, or outside of the lavatory, this gives self-service options.”

The system features two filtration systems: one is the same aviation commercial filter that’s in use today. “So, if you were to get tea or any water on board, that’s the same filter,” Jackson noted. The second is a UV LED canister, “so the water flows through that UV LED canister from top to bottom three times. Any pathogens that may have escaped the filter are going to get captured by that LED, and that only turns on when the water is flowing. What’s exciting about this is that it is safe water, has zero odor, and is tasteless.”

Every component in the Sustainably Sanitized Water Dispenser has been qualified, but now Boeing is working on qualifying the entire unit, Jackson revealed.

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• Weight savings to drive cabin sustainability: Airbus and Diehl
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Featured image credited to Boeing