Southwest Airlines new circular economy partnership

An innovative partnership between Southwest Airlines and textile and accessories upcycling company Looptworks has resulted in 43 acres of leather collected from 80,000 discarded Southwest airplane seats being turned into weekender duffle bags, shoes, soccer balls and more, rather than being discarded.

 In Brief 

• By repurposing the leather, the Southwest-Looptworks partnership helped to conserve over 4,000 gallons of water and avoid 72 per cent of associated CO2 emissions.
• Looptworks partnered with a local nonprofit to provide career training for adults with disabilities who deconstructed the airplane seats and prepared them for upcycling.

 In Depth 

• Read the original story on Sustainable Brands.
• Follow Looptworks on Twitter
• Explore the issues of waste, tourism and the circular economy further in this article, ‘Turning Waste Management into a tourism attraction“.

 In Future