Low-cost carrier Ryanair (Dublin / Ireland; https://corporate.ryanair.com) joined the war on plastics by unveiling a plan to ditch conventional, non-recyclable plastics on its aircraft, head offices and bases by 2023. Europe’s biggest airline by passenger numbers will switch to biodegradable cups, wooden cutlery and paper packaging on board, bolstering its claim as the "greenest airline". It will also introduce a voluntary scheme for customers to offset the "carbon cost of their flight" through a climate charity donation online, a press release on 31 January said.

Ryanair's initiative comes about a month after the EU's plastics strategy was released. The strategy includes a campaign for voluntary commitments – see Plasteurope.com of 24.01.2018.

Another major transport company, high-speed train operator Eurostar (London / UK; www.eurostar.com), promised on 7 February 2018 to halve the amount of plastics used on its train services over the next three years – see Plasteurope.com of 15.02.2018.

Ryanair said its new environmental policy is part of its "Always Getting Better" programme – launched in 2013 to improve "customer experience". Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs told local media, "It’s not just in-flight food and drink. We’re looking at the plastic parts within the aircraft and what’s non-recyclable and how do we work with the original equipment manufacturers to move to more recyclable plastics within the aircraft and the operation."