Retrolley - A better designed airline waste trolley

A better designed garbage trolley that reduces service time, weight, effort, and storage space, also allowing to sort items for recycling.

TEAM

MENTORS

DENISE IKUNO

OLIVER F.

LIANA MAKI

FAUSTO M.

LUCAS NEUMANN LUCAS OTSUKA TADEU OMAE

2015

Abstract This project focuses on the passenger waste management problems identified in many independent studies and also during our own research with a variety of airline stakeholders, especially issues related to recycling. We’ve found that even though most of the material collected during flights is composed of recyclables, only a minor percentage of airline waste gets recycled due to logistics, interest conflicts, and regulation problems.

From all the touchpoints through which this problems could be addressed, the waste collection service during the flights seems to be the most critical and, nonetheless, fertile for change and improvements. Because of time and space limitations, current practices involving collection of waste are very underdeveloped compared to all other in-flight procedures, often being carried out with hand-held bin bags in which all kinds of material is mixed together, only to be compressed in the cabin by expensive and heavy equipment into unrecyclable packs.

By deeply understanding this one crucial flight moment, as well as the big picture in which the waste problem is contained, we were able to design a waste trolley that can replace the standard bin trolleys, and allows for the separation and compression of recyclable material during collection procedure, without increase in service time.

The trolley enables the reduction of 50% in total waste volume without the use of electronic compressors. By replacing current equipment, our trolley frees up space in the aricraft’s galley and reduces up to 30Kg in equipment weight. It is a simple solution that enables for 1.35 billion tons of recyclable waste to be prepared accordingly and sold to recycling plans.

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RETROLLEY | Airbus FYI Report 2015

Introduction Where the project comes from

This project was started as part of our graduation in Design at the Universidade de SĂŁo Paulo, in Brazil. During this six people

months project, we were challenged to look at the airline industry and find a problem or an innovation opportunity we could tackle using the design methodologies such as Design Thinking and Human Centered Design.

tech

business

After visiting Embraer, the Brazilian airplane manufacturer, Guarulhos International Airport (the largest in Brazil), and talking to many stakeholders in the airline industry (i.e pilots, passengers & flight assistants) our attention was

The three spheres of human centered design that lead to disruptive innovation

attracted by the various comments and complaints about the waste management area. With further investigation, both with ground and desk research, we confirmed that collecting, managing and recycling passenger’s waste was a very complex and troublesome area, therefore with a very fertile ground for improvements and innovation.

Our research was awarded the Silver prize by the Brazil IDEA Awards (the national’s design award) and was further developed with the help of Airbus during the Fly Your Ideas competition.

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Defining the problem Airline waste management

In 2010, the New York Times published an

ecosystem: airports, airlines, manufacturers,

article about airline waste management,

municipalities, private waste companies and

revealing the lack of care of the industry as

federal security agencies. 50% of the waste

a whole with regards to this problem. For

is produced by airlines, while the other half

an industry based on large consumption

comes from the airport itself: toilets, shops,

of fossil fuels and a carbon footprint,

restaurants, and offices. It is imperative, for

airports and airlines should, according

cost and time reasons, that waste is sorted

to the newspaper, create better waste

for recycling in flight so that the recycling

management programs that enable the

process can take place in land, but it would

reduction of this impact immediately. All

not make any difference if the airport itself

stakeholders agree there is increasing

is not prepared to receive, manage, and

pressure from clients, employees and the

forward the waste accordingly. If all parts

media about this issue, but the numbers

are not committed, the process does not

remain unchanged.

happen.

In the same article, there’s an estimate that less than 20% of flight waste is currently being recycled, which is less than the

One year of American passenger’s aluminum cans could build 58 Boeing 747.

already low 31% US national average. Just with the passengers’ aluminum cans that go

Natural Resources Defence Council

to landfills every year in America, 58 new Boeings 747 could be built. In 2004, 9.000

The importance of land infrastructure,

tons of plastic were discarded. Projections

according to the Airport Council

show that increasing the current average to

International, makes the problem a local

70% would be equivalent to taking 80.000

one. Every airport has its own peculiarities

cars off the streets.

and spatial organization, which makes a standardized collecting protocol very hard

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An extensive report published by the

to implement. According to airlines and

National Resources Defense Council

their crew there is a lack of information

(NRDC) in 2006 says that the waste

about each airport’s facilities, which makes

problem does not have one single guilty

it impossible to know if sorting recyclables

stakeholder, but on the contrary, should be

in flight is necessary or just a waste of

the responsibility of all parts of the flight

time, since if the infrastructure is not there,

RETROLLEY | Airbus FYI Report 2015

IMAGE : AIRLINEMEALS.COM

everything will just get mixed anyway when

Separating recyclables in flight makes

it lands.

recycling feasible on after landing.

With regards to in-flight sorting, most

Letting the separation process for ground

airlines and crew agree that the lack of

procedures is more costly, time-consuming

space in the aircraft, as well as the lack

and less effective having in mind that they

of time both for in flight and ground

have been already mixed together and,

procedures are the major limitations for the

therefore, contaminated.

practice to take place.

Not only airlines but corporations and A very important player in this scenario is

communities are ready and looking for

the Animal By-product Regulations (2005)

changes. Delta Airlines and Virgin America

which puts restrictions on how International

have already developed many procedures

Catering Waste (Cat 1 ICW) can be

to improve their numbers. Toyota North

handled, stored and disposed of in order

America has even reached their goal of

to prevent the spread of disease. Where

sending less than 5% of their waste to

Cat1 ICW (any meat or fish byproduct)

landfills and the City of San Jose is not

is present, the whole bag of waste is

much behind. They are working to expand

considered contaminated. This makes the

new recycling, composting and waste

in-flight sorting procedures mandatory if

conversion opportunities to meet their

the objective is to enable anything to be

goal of zero waste by 2020. This kind of

recycled by the airport facilities.

strategies and commitment shows us that there is a high environmental concern going

Where Cat1 ICW (any meat or fish byproduct) is present, the whole bag of waste is considered contaminated.

on and people are moving on this direction.

Sustainable Aviation, 2010

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Analysis

The current in-flight waste collecting procedures We’ve interviewed enough flight attendants to realise that even though all show interest in making their flights greener, separating passenger’s waste for recycling is not by far a common practice.

All of them agree that this moment is very rushed, due to time and space constraints, but depending on the aircraft size, different steps can be taken: After the meals are served, the crew can walk the isles wearing gloves and holding plastic bags, or pushing a bin trolley, in which they will throw anything collected from the passengers.

Some flight attendants like to empty the PET bottles and store them in the catering trolleys, hoping that they will get a better end than the waste in the normal bin. But that’s just hope, we don’t know.

These bags are then taken to the galley where they’ll be deposited in the bin (a full size trolley) or in a electronic trash compactor. There is no sorting of recyclable materials in this procedure. The only things that get separated washable kitchenware, or large drink containers that stay in the same trolley used when serving the meals, which is collected by the catering company who takes care of it. There’s no sure answer if these catering companies do recycle the materials collected.

Image: Globo

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RETROLLEY | Airbus FYI Report 2015

Rogério Refundini, TAM

procedures need to be done so quickly that it’s easier for cabin crew to just throw all the waste in a single bag.

our Interviewees

our visits

NAME

AIRLINE

AIRCRAFT

COMPANY

PLACE

Silvia

Air France

A330 / A340

GRU Int. Airport

Guarulhos

Enilaine

TAM

A319 / 320

CGH Airport

São Paulo

Karen

TAM

A319 / 320

Gate Gourmet Catering

Guarulhos

Rogério

TAM

A319 / 320

Embraer

S. J. Campos

Leandro

TAM

E-190

Fernanda

Emirates

A380

According to one interviewee, the waste produced is often more than the galley bins can hold, even when they get compressed. Some of them reported occasions in which the waste trolleys were not enough for all the flight’s trash, and improvised methods of storage had to be taken, such as placing the waste in cardboard boxes that didn’t have a specific place in the galley, and thus had to be stored in the toilets for safe landing.

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Analysis

Equipment currently in use

Regular Bin Trolley SPECIFICATIONS Weight

30Kg

Galley Space

1 Full space

Waste capacity

70Kg

Volume

240L

Compression rate

-

Nº of passenger’s waste

115

Cost

Low

Allows for recycling

No

Energy use

-

This simple trolley (half-size or full size) has just one single opening at the top, where all waste collected by cabin crew is deposited. It can be pushed down the aisles for collecting, or assistants can just bring bin bags with them and store them inside the trolley later.

Even though it has very low manufacturing costs, it doesn’t allow for recyclables to be sorted, and It doesn’t allow for space to be saved neither by compressing or organizing the material.

Small aircrafts (A320) carry 2 of these trolleys, while in medium aircrafts (A330 / A340) there are up to 4 of them. Considering that each passenger produces about 0.6kg of waste per flight, and that each trolley holds up to 70 kg of material, we can tell that all of them get tightly filled up.

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Analysis

Equipment currently in use

electronic trash compressors SPECIFICATIONS Weight

80Kg

Galley Space

1 Full space

Waste capacity

-

Volume

-

Compression rate

10:1

Nº of passenger’s waste

-

Cost

High

Allows for recycling

No

Energy use

1.7kW

These are present in the majority of A380 (long-haul) aircrafts, and in about 70% of A330/340, mostly serving international flights. Their obvious advantage is a very high compression power, able to reduce waste volume in a 9:1 ratio, which means that 1000L of waste (equivalent to 4 full size trolleys, or a full A330 flight) could be stored in 110 litres (1 half size trolley).

The down side is that they weigh approximately 80 kg netto, which is 50 kg or 266% more than a regular one. They are also very expensive machines and use up to 1.7 kW of energy. Last but not least, they require the airline to keep buying the patented cardboard boxes into which the waste is packed.

Both models present ergonomic problems such as the need to lift the trash bag up to the waist height, a movement that can be harmful to the body when done over and over.

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Analysis

Cabin waste composition According to a study by Li X et al, about waste reduction and recycling strategies for in-flight services, over 50% of all aircraft cabin cleaning waste could be recycled. In most flights, the waste is composed of clean paper, soiled paper, transparent PS, food and glass among others. Clean paper (such as newspapers and magazines) makes up by far the majority of waste by weight. The study suggests that all these materials could be recycled if sorting procedures were to be adopted by airlines.

3% aluminum cans

7% others 4% film plastics

32% clean paper

4% textiles

9% food 15% soiled paper 13% transparent PS 4% rigid plastics

9% glass

Total waste by flight type, in kilograms FLIGHT TYPE

TOTAL

ECONOMY C.

BUSINESS C.

FIRST C.

Long Haul

0.56

0.38

1.14

2.84

Medium Haul

0.58

0.48

0.85

1.57

Short Haul

0.40

0.21

1.20

* no 1st class

Total waste per passenger, in kilograms

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FLIGHT TYPE

TOTAL

ECONOMY C.

BUSINESS C.

FIRST C.

Long Haul

234

119

64

51

Medium Haul

226

150

48

28

Short Haul

134

66

68

* no 1st class

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Analysis

Best practices to sorting cabin waste for recycling Sustainable Aviation has published in 2010 the Aircraft Cabin Waste Recycling Guide, in which are listed best practices for collecting recyclables during the flight.

These procedures consider Animal By-Product Regulations 2005 (CAT 1 ICW), which puts restrictions on how the waste has to be handled in order to prevent the spread of diseases. The regulation states that every waste bad containing products of animal origin, such as meat or honey, is considered contaminated. If the aim is for materials to be recycled after landing, these items have to be separated from the recyclables during the flight.

group 1: recyclable materials Includes newpapers, magazines, printed paper, plastic cups, water bottles, soft drink bottles, aluminum cans, carboard boxes and packaging.

group 2: animal products and contaminated Includes meat and fish products and any material in contact with it. Also tetrapak packaging, used napkins, shrink wrap plastic and other composite materials

group 3: catering material These are materials used during serving and that go immediately back into the service trolley. Includes washable kitchenware, glass bottles and large drink containers and bottles. These are sent back to the catering company.

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the project

Design requirements

After the data collection we gathered a list of functional and ergonomic requirements for our design that would lead us to the final solution.

Indispensable Requirements 1. Enable sorting of recyclable from the non-recyclable waste during the flight 2. Don’t cause increase in procedure time 3. Enable the compression of waste, preferably with no use of electricity 4. Be the same size of current standard trolleys 5. Separate liquids and leftover ice cubes in a dedicated container 6. Keep the passengers safe from the waste materials 7. Enable all compartments and containers to be locked in place for landing 8. Avoid sharp corners for health and safety reasons; 9. Smooth out surfaces to help the cleaning.

Desirable Requirements 10. Store PET bottles and aluminum cans independently 11. Cover the waste to not be seen by passengers; 12. Improve the way the trash bag is pulled out from the trolley.

13. Bear around 200 plastic cups 14. Improve flight attendant’s posture while pushing and pulling the cart.

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the project

Design phase

After collecting and analysing data, we started brainstorm sessions to come up with the first conceptual sketches and quick prototypes. In the drawing below it’s possible to see the first insights for distributing different materials and using the lever to compress waste manually.

sliding door

Cup stacking

Can crusher

Manual lever

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the project

Prototyping As part of the development, testing and prototyping is crucial. After sketching the first ideas we went ahead with volume prototypes, which were significantly important for our proposal. We started by building quick cardboard models to understand how much trash we could fit inside the trolley, and then built the wood model above to prove we could compress the waste with a movable front wall.

The second insight was the rate compression. Instead of trying to reduce by half, we were going to increase the inner volume and just then reduce it again. In other words, we would expand it to X + 1/2X and then reduce it back to X. As it is a compression system, the quantity of material inside would be added up, resulting in a rate compression of 1/3 per actuation.

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RETROLLEY | Airbus FYI Report 2015

Volume Tests

50 cups

50 cups, stacked

Stacking cups Stacking cups is a simple solution that can have a big impact

10 : 1 ratio

in total volume waste, but that is seldom done because of time constrains. Retrolley allows the practice by providing an intuitive, quick to use cup stacking bin.

20 cans

20 cans, crushed

crushing aluminum cans This is a procedure that is currently impossible to carry out inside the airplane, but that can also have a big impact in total waste volume. By incorporating a quick-to-use can crusher, Retrolley not only allows this practice, but also

4:1 ratio

has a separate compartment so that cans can be easily removed and sold to aluminum recycling facilities.

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the project

Product Design In order to make them fit in a regular galley we kept the shape of the current trolleys, so that there is no need to make any changes in the current system. Its differential relies on its interfaces (superior and rear) where the compartments for the separation of the recyclables are.

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Recyclable materials Organic / Contaminated

Cup stacking Sink for liquids / ice cubes

Compress handle

top interface At the top there are two separate bags, a green or transparent one for recyclables and a black one for organics. To cover the bags while the trolley is not in operation, there is a slide plastic lid that runs in a railvv.

There is also a sink connected to a bottle for leftover liquids and ice cubes, and a box for the stacked plastic cups. The bottle, such as the box, can be easily unfilled, when necessary, by turning the clog at the bottom.

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REAR INTERFACE At the rear face there are the access to

positions the can into the indicated place

the bottle for leftover liquids, the access

and presses the pedal crushing the can,

to the box of stacked cups, and the can

which automatically drops into a separate

crusher. The crusher can be activated by a

container. Cans can be removed separatedly

pedal at the bottom. The flight attendant

for selling, or mixed with other recyclables.

Handle

Stacked cups container Leftover liquids container

Can crusher

Crushed cans container

Crusher pedal

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The can crusher is located in the bottom rear. It allow for the assitant to quickly drop a can in the right position and crush it using the pedal. The crushed can automatically falls into a separate container.

Its compartments are made of high-temperature injected thermoplastic, as each one of them have their own shape and need to be easy cleaning, while the basic structure is given by aluminum, a low-cost industrial material in terms of physical and chemical resistance and extremely light compared to other materials with same characteristics.

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Handlebar and Compression System The handlebar is designer to better the assistant’s posture while pushing the cart, and act as lever for the trolley’s compression mechanism. It is telescopic, so that the flight attendant has more space to walk behind it, and needs less effort while operating the compression system. Once unlocked, he/she can move the handlebar up and down (for two or three times), in a lever movement, to compress the waste back into the half size trolley.

The handlebar operates in a ratcheting mechanism, just like in a bicycle. You will only activate the compression when you move it down. This is a simple and mechanic movement, which discard the necessity for electric and/or electronic devices, keeping it easy and cheap to produce. Even though it is now as powerful as electric compressors, it can easily compress the waste in the bags since cups and cans are stored separatedly.

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RETROLLEY | Airbus FYI Report 2015

MATERIALS AND SPECS Even though Retrolley has embedded equipments that normal ones don’t, we were able to make it lighter with the use of new, better materials. The structure and walls are made of layered PC2 polycarbonate with an internal structure of ‘honeycomb’, which makes it very resistant to physical, chemicals and temperature impact, as well as

pc2 polycarbonate by Plascore

reducing 20%-30% weight and cost when compared to trolleys built out of aluminum. Our estimates are that the final product weight would be 25Kg.

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Round two

Detailing the Outcomes In round two we worked together with our Airbus mentor to understand, based on the feedback from Round 1, our project’s main strengths and weaknesses. Our main task was to quantify more precisely the benefits of our ideas, so we went on to search for more reliable data, numbers and facts, as well as more detailed information about procedures and involvement of all stakeholders.

We verified that Retrolley is able to hold the same amount of waste that a current full size trolley does, just by staking cups, crushing cans, and slightly compressing the rest of the waste.

2:1

COMPARISON CHART : RETROLLEY VS. NORMAL TROLLEY Considering a full-size trolley holds 240L = 70kg = 100 passengers’ waste

Qt per 100

Total volume

Retrolley

Total volume

passengers

in normal trolley

compression

inside retrolley

Cups

200

60L (300ml*200)

10 : 1 (Stacked)

6L

Cans

100

35L (350ml*100)

4 : 1 (Compressed)

Other waste

–

145L

3 : 1 (Compressed)

95L

TOTAL

–

240L

2:1

109.75L

MATERIAL

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RETROLLEY | Airbus FYI Report 2015

8.75L

CASE 01: A320, 180 PASSENGERS & 480L OF WASTE Considering a full-size trolley holds 240L = 70kg = 100 passengers EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

Eq. weight

Galley space used

1 electronic compactor

80Kg

1 full slot

2 full size trolleys

60Kg

2 full slots

2 Retrolleys

50Kg

1 full slot

Result 02 full size trolleys

2 Retrolley

-10Kg

-1 galley slot

01 full size compactor

2 Retrolley

-30Kg

same qt. of galley slots*

Case 02 : A330-300, 300 passengers & 720 L of waste Considering a full-size trolley holds 240L = 70kg = 100 passengers EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

Eq. weight

Galley space used

1 electronic compactor

80Kg

1 full slot

3 full size trolleys

90Kg

3 full slots

3 Retrolleys

75Kg

1.5 slots

Result 03 full size trolleys

3 Retrolley

-15Kg

-1.5 galley slot

01 full size compactor

3 Retrolley

-5Kg

+0.5 galley slots*

Case 03 : A380, 554 passengers & 1305L of waste Considering a full-size trolley holds 240L = 70kg = 100 passengers EQUIPMENT OPTIONS

Eq. weight

Galley space used

2 electronic compactors

160Kg

2 full slot

6 full size trolleys

180Kg

6 full slots

6 Retrolleys

150Kg

3 full spaces

Result 06 full size trolleys

6 Retrolley

-30Kg

-3 galley slots

02 electronic compactor

3 Retrolley

-10Kg

+1 galley slots*

* Conservative estimates do not consider waste that is stored outside compactors and use up extra space. Please keep in mind that Retrolley stores all the waste inside itself.

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Round two

RETROLLEY BENEFITS

Allows materials to be sorted and thus recycled after landing Sorting waste during the flight is currently the only way to make sure 1.35 billion tonnes of waste get recycled.

$

sorted materials can be sold to recycling plans The total market value of common recyclable materials generated from U.S. passenger aircraft flights is estimated at $18 to $26 million annually.

Sorting organics may also enable production of fuel.

Reduces up to 30kg in galley equipment Reduces fuel consumption

Frees up to 3 full galley slots Extra space can be used to fit more seating, store duty free products or expanded food and beverage service.

improved handling ergonomics Flight attendants can walk the isles more comfortably, and don’t need to lift heavy and bulky bin bags.

Purchase price lower than electric compactors Simplicity of design and smaller size makes galley equipping cheaper.

Uses zero electricity There’s no need for special galley setup, and allows for fuel savings.

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NEXT STEPS Our design is a small part on the recycling challenge, and the optimal scenario would count on participation form all airlines, airports, and municipalities. There are a lot of questions that should still be addressed, both concerning the design itself and the broader context it is situated in: •

Consultation with engineers in order to detail internal mechanisms such as can compressor and handlebar compression, mainly.

•

Accounting staff consultation to better calculate costs, savings and revenues from this project

•

Execute a series of tests under more real factors such as time constraints, space, weight limitation, etc.

•

Creation of recycling guidelines and goals, engagement, encouragement and training the cabin crew to separate recyclables according to regulations.

•

Awareness campaign to stimulate, involve and educate passengers to separate materials or at least not contaminate them, like Delta Airlines does helps to increase the effectiveness of recycling programs and also create customer loyalty.

•

Airports, airlines and catering companies need to get involved in designing a recycling programmes and infrastructure.

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References

Baxter, M. Projeto de Produto: Guia Prático para o Desenvolvimento de Novos Produtos.

São Paulo: Edgar Blücher Ltda, 1998.

Hershkowitz A, Hoover D. Trash Landings : How Airlines and Airports Can Clean Up Their Recycling Programs. November 2006 Hodnett S. Airline Waste Recycling Guide. Sustainable aviation. 2010 Li X, Poon C, Lee S, Chung S, Luk F. Waste reduction and recycling strategies for the in-flight services in the airline industry. Resources, Conservation and Recycling.

2003;37(2):87-99. doi:10.1016/s0921-3449(02)00074-5.

Negroni C. Airlines Recycle Little of Travelers’ Trash. Nytimescom. 2015. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/23/business/energy-environment/23recycle.html?_r=0.

Accessed March 29, 2015.

Proença, P. Quanto tempo uma aeromoça passa no céu? Mundo Estranho, São Paulo, Ed. 120. pg 54-55, jan. 2012.

Recycling Best Practices—A Guidebook for Advancing Recycling from Aircraft Cabins.

Transport Research Board of The National Academies, 2014.

What Goes Up Must Come Down: The Sorry State of Recycling in the Airline Industry.

Green America. 2010

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Thank you!

Denise Ikuno Lucas Neumann Lucas M. Otsuka Liana Maki Tadeu Omae

2015

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