Reduce reliance on single use
Keep reusable cups circulating instead of continually purchasing and disposing of single-use alternatives.
Aims to define and evidence the outcomes
What if an entire waste stream
simply disappeared?
Every single-use cup removed from circulation is one less item to buy, use and throw away.Sky Cups is working towards something bigger: helping aviation replace that linear cycle with reuse systems designed to keep cups in circulation and single-use cup waste out of the system.The ambition is clear. The impact has to be proven.
From managing waste to removing it
The real opportunity is not a better disposable cup.It is needing fewer disposable cups in the first place.
Airports and airlines handle significant volumes of single-use cups through terminals, lounges and inflight service.
Reuse creates an opportunity to change what happens to those cups at the source.
Instead of:
Buy → Use → Dispose → Repeat
the aim becomes:
Use → Return → Wash → Reuse
Fewer single-use cups purchased.
Less material entering waste streams.
More value kept in circulation.
That is the difference Sky Cups is working to make.
Impact has to work in the real world
Environmental progress only lasts when the system works.
Removing single-use cup waste cannot come at the expense of the operation around it.
The system still needs to work for passengers.
For crew and service teams.
For airport operations.
For catering and logistics partners.
And commercially.
That is why Sky Cups defines impact more broadly than cups avoided.
A successful reuse system needs to demonstrate that environmental progress and operational reality can work together.
Measurable waste reduction.
Operationally workable.
Commercially credible.
One system. Multiple outcomes.
What could successful reuse change?
Prevent waste at the source
Move beyond managing cup waste after it has been created by reducing the amount entering the waste stream in the first place.
Create measurable progress
Generate evidence your organisation can use to understand what changed and whether the system deserves to grow.
Make change visible
Give passengers a simple way to participate in reuse as part of their travel experience.
Build operational knowledge
Learn what reuse requires in a real aviation environment, creating a stronger foundation for future decisions.
Explore commercial value
Test whether reducing dependence on single use can create a commercially viable model for your operation.
Then we prove it
No assumptions dressed up as impact.
Model → Test → Measure → Learn
Before implementation, indicative modelling helps establish the opportunity and the assumptions worth testing.
Then a defined pilot creates real evidence.
Depending on the objectives, that could mean measuring:
Single-use cups avoided
Return and circulation rates
Waste-volume changes
Service and operating costs
Passenger participation
Operational impacts
Relevant environmental measures
The measures are agreed before the pilot begins.
The results determine what happens next.
From one pilot to a bigger possibility
Reuse working in aviation.
One lounge will not transform aviation.
One route will not eliminate single-use cup waste across an airline.
One terminal will not create a circular aviation system.
But each can prove something important.
That reuse can work.
That passengers will participate.
That operations can adapt.
That the numbers can be measured.
And, if the evidence supports it, that the model is worth expanding.
That is how a contained pilot can contribute to something much bigger.
The long-term ambition
Reuse that becomes part of how aviation operates.
Sky Cups is working towards an aviation ecosystem where reusable cups move through connected systems rather than becoming waste after a single use.
Airports.
Airlines.
Service partners.
Passengers.
Working within one circular model.
We are not claiming that future exists today.
We are building towards it — one tested, measured implementation at a time.
Onboard with reuse.
Turn ambition into a measurable pilot
Ready to explore the difference reuse could make?
Let’s look at your operation, your current single-use footprint and the outcomes worth testing.
You will leave the first conversation with a clearer view of where the opportunity may sit and what would need to be explored next.
Frequently asked questions
Our ambition is to help aviation eliminate single-use cup waste by replacing the linear buy-use-dispose model with practical reuse systems that keep cups circulating.
By defining what success means before implementation and measuring real outcomes through pilots and future implementations. We will distinguish clearly between modelled scenarios and measured results.
No. Reuse also needs to work operationally and commercially. Depending on the implementation, measures may include waste reduction, cup return rates, costs, passenger participation and operational performance.
We can use indicative modelling and your available data to explore the opportunity. Actual outcomes need to be tested in your operating environment before they can be treated as proven.
Sky Cups is still building its implementation evidence. We will not present modelled outcomes or industry examples as results achieved by Sky Cups.
Yes. A defined terminal, lounge, or flight route can provide a useful environment to test assumptions and establish whether a reuse model warrants broader implementation.
Sky Cups. Land with impact.