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Emirates launches blankets made from 100% plastic bottles

Dubai - It takes 28 bottles to make one blanket.

Emirates has introduced new sustainable blankets made from 100 per cent recycled plastic bottles. The soft and warm blankets are made using ecoTHREAD patented technology and is now available in Economy Class on all long-haul Emirates flights.

Each Emirates ecoTHREAD blanket is made from 28 recycled plastic bottles. With the latest innovation, the bottles are recycled into plastic chips before being turned into yarn, creating a polar fleece material. The fine thread is then woven into soft blankets.

The environmentally-friendly blankets were designed in partnership with Buzz, an inflight product specialist, and are part of Emirates' continued commitment to product innovation and sustainability. Emirates already runs a green programme on board recycling aluminum cans, plastic and glass bottles, and clean paper products such as newspapers, magazines and cardboard cartons where possible.

By the end of 2019, Emirates ecoTHREAD blankets would have rescued 88 million plastic bottles from landfills, equivalent to the weight of 44 A380 aircraft. This initiative makes it the largest sustainable blanket programme on board in the airline industry. In addition, the manufacturing process of using recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reduces energy emissions by 70 per cent.

EcoTHREAD is certified with the Intertek Green Leaf Mark by third party testing and certification body Intertek, independently verified to use 100 per cent recycled materials.

The Emirates ecoTHREAD blanket for Economy Class completes the recent comforter overhaul across all three classes. The airline introduced a plush, faux sheep-skin blanket in First Class and soft duvets in Business Class.