On May 21, 2026, the "Civil Aviation Green Tableware Industry Chain Innovation Forum," a parallel forum of the 4th Civil Aviation Green Development Conference, will be held in Haikou, Hainan. The forum will address high-traffic service scenarios including cabins, airports, airline catering, coffee shops, and chain restaurants. Discussions will cover high-level paper-for-plastic substitution, food-contact safety, international green and low-carbon compliance, material and process innovation, supply chain collaboration, recycling, compostable degradation as a fallback, and value chain closure. Airlines, airport groups, airline catering suppliers, paper manufacturers, coating companies, packaging firms, tableware processors, coffee and chain restaurant brands, research institutes, and testing and certification agencies across the industry chain are invited to participate.
From Cabin to Airport: Registration Opens for the Civil Aviation Green Tableware Industry Chain Innovation Forum
On May 21, 2026, as a parallel forum of the 4th Civil Aviation Green Development Conference, the "Civil Aviation Green Tableware Industry Chain Innovation Forum" will be held at the Meilan Hall of the Green Development Hilton Hotel in Haikou.
This forum is co-organized by the Aviation Environmental Protection Working Committee of the Civil Aviation Administration of China, the Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology at Tsinghua University, DBC New Material Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., BASF (China) Co., Ltd., and Bluepha Co., Ltd.
Themed "From Cabin to Airport: High-Quality Development of Paper-for-Plastic Disposable Tableware and Value Chain Closure," the forum focuses on food-contact safety, international green and low-carbon compliance, material and process innovation, paper and packaging supply chains, recycling, and industry collaboration for green tableware in civil aviation service scenarios. Partners across the industry chain, including aviation, airports, airline catering, paper, coating, packaging, tableware processing, coffee and chain restaurant brands, research institutes, and testing and certification agencies, are invited to participate.
Why Discuss Green and Low-Carbon Tableware?
The upgrade of green tableware is no longer just about "paper-for-plastic" substitution or simply "switching materials."
In civil aviation service scenarios, a paper cup, a meal box, or a paper bag must meet passenger experience and airline catering service requirements, while also withstanding systematic verification for food-contact safety, water and oil resistance, heat and permeation resistance, processing adaptability, stable supply, recycling, and compliance evidence.
From an international regulatory perspective, the EU PPWR is driving packaging toward recyclable design, lifecycle management, and waste reduction. FDA food-contact substance management and the EU food-contact material regulatory framework emphasize material composition, migration testing, safety assessment, and compliance proof. Rules such as CBAM and EUDR also signal the importance of low-carbon supply chain data, raw material traceability, and verifiable environmental impact.
From a domestic standards perspective, national food safety standards are entering an update and implementation phase. GB 4806.10-2025 "National Food Safety Standard - Coatings and Coated Materials for Food Contact Materials and Articles" will take effect on September 2, 2026. For coating materials, paper-based tableware, and packaging processing enterprises, formula compliance, migration testing, test reports, and batch stability are becoming essential foundations for product development and supply chain access.
The future of green and low-carbon tableware should form a systematic solution:
Source reduction of plastic and carbon, process adaptation to scenarios, high-value recycling at the end-of-life, and standard-compliant compostable degradation as a fallback path when necessary.
Why From Cabin to Airport?
Cabins, airports, airline catering, VIP lounges, airport coffee shops, and chain restaurants are typical high-standard, high-traffic, and high-visibility service scenarios.
Among these, airports hold special value. Airports are relatively enclosed public spaces with high organizational structure and clear operational processes. They possess the scenario foundation for classified disposal, centralized recycling, sorting and transfer, regenerative utilization, and data tracking, making them suitable as urban models for the recycling and utilization of green tableware.
The airport scenario clarifies the entire chain of "post-use destination, classification, recycling, reuse, and data evidence generation," making it easier to validate the scientific rigor and replicability of the recycling process.
Therefore, green tableware for civil aviation should move beyond isolated product discussions and enter a stage of collaborative industry chain development.
Key Discussion Topics at the Forum
This forum will focus on real-world scenarios, actual industry chains, and genuine application needs, with key discussions on:
Scenario Requirements
How to advance the green substitution of disposable tableware in scenarios such as aircraft cabins, terminals, VIP lounges, airline catering supply, airport cafes, and chain restaurants.
Safety and Compliance
How green tableware can align with requirements such as China's GB standards for food-contact materials, FDA food-contact substance management, and the EU food-contact materials regulatory framework, establishing a system for food-contact safety, migration testing, and compliance certification.
Materials and Processes
How to achieve industrial adaptation for new materials from biological manufacturing, bio-based aqueous barrier technologies, and paper-based tableware processing techniques.
Closed-Loop Pathways
How to form a practical value-chain closed loop among source plastic and carbon reduction, mid-process scenario adaptation, end-of-life high-value recycling, and compostable degradation as a fallback.
Industry Collaboration
How aviation, airports, airline catering, papermaking, coating, packaging, tableware processing, brand terminals, research institutes, and testing and certification agencies can establish more efficient mechanisms for case sharing, collaborative showcases, and matchmaking.
Invitation to Industry Chain Partners
This forum invites airlines, airport groups, airline catering suppliers, airport commercial operators, papermaking, coating, packaging, tableware processing, coffee and chain restaurant brands, research institutes, testing and certification agencies, and other relevant industry chain entities to participate and exchange ideas.
If you are focused on green packaging upgrades, food-contact safety, high-quality applications of paper cups and food containers, processing adaptation for paper-based tableware, recycling and reuse, low-carbon compliance evidence, and supply chain collaboration, we welcome you to register for the event.
From the cabin to the airport, from a single paper cup to a green supply chain.
We look forward to meeting with industry chain partners in Haikou to jointly promote the high-quality development of green tableware in civil aviation service scenarios and the closing of the value chain loop.
Forum Details
Forum Name
4th Civil Aviation Green Development Conference – Civil Aviation Green Tableware Industry Chain Innovation Forum
Forum Theme
From Cabin to Airport: High-Quality Development and Value Chain Integration of Paper-Based Disposable Tableware Replacing Plastics
Forum Date
May 21, 2026, 9:00–12:00
Forum Venue
Meilan Hall, Haikou Green Development Hilton Hotel
Registration Link
Forum Contact
Hu Xin 13601607529 (WeChat ID same as phone number)
Email Address
Stella.hu@dbc.cn
This forum adopts a participation mechanism combining targeted invitations and registration review. After submitting a registration application, the organizing committee will review it based on forum seating arrangements and participant matching. Successful applicants will be notified separately. Due to limited seating, the forum attendance will be capped at 100 participants.
Guests from government agencies and public institutions, as well as professional attendees requiring an official invitation letter, please contact the organizing committee for relevant filing and coordination procedures. For inquiries regarding the conference agenda, interactive participation, and attendance arrangements, please consult relevant personnel from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, DBC, Bluepha, and BASF. For detailed information, please refer to the attachment: "Notice on Hosting the '4th Civil Aviation Green Development Conference – Civil Aviation Green Tableware Industry Chain Innovation Forum'".
