DUBAI: UAE airline Emirates said it recycled more than 500 tons of plastic and glass last year by collecting bottles used by customers on its flights.

That is about the same weight as a fully loaded A380 aircraft.

The discarded items are collected by cabin crew and then sent to a recycling plant in Dubai. Glass items are crushed and remelted before being used to make new bottles, while plastic bottles are cleaned, chopped into flakes, melted into pellets and shipped to manufacturers for use in the production of new products.

For the past six years, Emirates has used recycled plastics to make the blankets it provides to economy passengers on long-haul flights. Each blanket takes about 28 plastic bottles to make.

The company said it had saved more than 95 million plastic bottles from landfill and that its sustainable blanket program was the largest in the airline industry.

Emirates’ complimentary toy bags, baby amenity kits and plush toys for children are also made from recycled plastic bottles and other environmentally friendly materials.

The company said its belt bags, duffle bags and backpacks were produced from a yarn made entirely of recycled plastic bottles, while its tea and coffee stirrers, paper straws and in-flight retail bags were made from wood and paper products from responsibly managed forests.