Partnering Airbus UK with Elis UK to Reduce Plastic Waste

Airbus Defence & Space UK & laundry supplier ELIS have been working closely together to reduce the reliance on single-use plastics for Cleanroom Overall deliveries to offer a more sustainable solution.

AIRBUS Environmental Top Company Objectives are driven by High5+ targets to reduce waste by 20% by 2030.

Similarly, Elis is committed to reducing its CO₂ emissions to Net Zero by 2045 and, as such, understands the importance of delivering services that will help its customers reduce their own environmental impact.

Elis Cleanroom’s self-packing garments range has enabled Airbus Defence and Space to do exactly this, reducing the amount of single-use plastic required to deliver laundry services to the Stevenage and Portsmouth sites. 

Instead of being wrapped in plastic, which would otherwise be sent to landfill, the garments are designed to fold inside themselves. This innovative packaging method means that the inside of the garment protects the outside layer from potential contamination in transit and on arrival.

This packaging method has been introduced to around 70% of Elis Cleanroom coats and coveralls, saving nearly 300kgs of single-use plastic waste per year from landfill across Airbus Defence and Space sites.

Elis Cleanroom has also introduced reusable overshoes to both facilities, preventing the disposal of several thousand single-use alternatives into landfill per annum.