Air France has launched an innovative program to give its ground and cabin crew uniforms a second life. The company developed a dedicated uniform recycling process—the first of its kind within the airline—which collected used uniforms from staff across the network, including at Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly airports.
After collection, the uniforms were processed through a controlled recycling chain that converts textile waste into a high-calorific pellet. Those pellets are then used as a fuel source in a nearby cement plant, avoiding landfill disposal and recovering energy from materials that would otherwise be discarded. The process both reduces waste and captures value from end-of-life uniforms while helping to decarbonize part of the production chain for building materials.
Thierry Bellon, Air France’s chief procurement officer, commented on the initiative: “With this innovative project, Air France is once again demonstrating its commitment to sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. The company is working closely with adapted employment partners, encouraging eco-citizen behavior among employees, and improving oversight of material flows while exploring a new processing chain.”
The scale of the program is significant. Air France supplies official uniforms to 17,650 cabin crew members and 8,500 ground staff; an additional 8,600 employees wear unofficial uniforms. Through the recent collection effort, the airline gathered 8.56 tons of clothing. The recycling process produces pellets with a high calorific value—enough equivalent energy to heat three homes for one year—and the energy recovered was used in cement production, yielding the equivalent of 1.28 tons of cement.
This uniform recycling initiative aligns with broader circular-economy principles by minimizing textile waste, diverting material from landfills, and converting used garments into a useful energy resource. By centralizing collection and working with processing partners, Air France is improving traceability of uniform end-of-life streams and supporting local industrial partners that can utilize the recovered energy.
Beyond the immediate environmental benefits, the program also promotes employee engagement in sustainability efforts. Collecting uniforms company-wide raised awareness among staff about responsible disposal and demonstrated a practical route for corporate clothing to be reintegrated into industrial processes rather than becoming waste.
Airlines and large employers with substantial uniform fleets face particular challenges in managing textiles sustainably. Air France’s model—combining systematic collection, a purpose-built recycling chain, and local industrial use of recovered energy—offers a replicable example for other organizations seeking to reduce the environmental footprint of their workwear. The initiative highlights how targeted reuse and energy-recovery solutions can form part of a wider strategy to lower waste and support circularity in the textiles and aviation sectors.