So much waste that can be avoided.

• Author: Dasburg, John H.
• Position: Northwest Airlines Inc.'s environmental policy - Leadership in Environmental Initiatives - Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership

Northwest Airlines has made a strategic decision to play a leadership role in our industry relative to the environmental movement. The value added to our company has been significant, if not easily measurable. Not only has it bound many of our employees around a cause, but it also offers the potential to set us apart in the eyes of our customers. In an industry experiencing intense competition, as well as well-publicized labor issues, this combination offers a unique advantage.

Our effort has gained much of its momentum from dedicated groups of employees behind the scenes who are establishing innovative recycling programs. Their commitment to leaving a better world for their children and grandchildren provides a motivation that has generated a number of important programs. Each of these offer long-term implications for how we think about what we are creating in accomplishing our business objectives. Once you begin to focus on recycling as a way of thinking, it is amazing the waste that can be avoided.

Anyone who has taken a Northwest flight lately has probably noticed our Northwest flight attendants walking through the aisles with maroon plastic sacks that read "Northwest Airlines Recycles." They are collecting trash for recycling. Northwest recycles more than 2,600 tons of in-flight waste, saving 15,500 trees a year. The recycling of cups, paper, cans, and plastics is just one of the more visible ways that Northwest is working to protect our environment and natural resources.

Some of our other efforts are less visible, but equally significant. For example, a 15-member volunteer recycling and reclamation committee in our technical operations area has resulted in a substantial savings in waste reduction in a relatively short period of time. In 1992, technical operations employees recycled 1,800 tons of materials. Most significantly, this refuse did not end up in landfills.

What kinds of things are we recycling? Some of the more basic materials include wood, glass, metal, and paper -- including all of the magazines that come off the aircraft. We have also collected 75,000 pairs of eyeglasses that were left on our flights. After we attempt to return the glasses, they are donated to Third-World nations through VOSH (Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity).

Some other less obvious materials our employees are recycling include carpeting, airplane seat covers and seat cushions, and aircraft windows. Even the metal seat frames are melted down...