Environment
Using advanced technologies and innovation, Boeing is
building a better planet.
Environment Report
Innovation for a more sustainable future
Every day, through innovation and the dedication of more than 150,000 employees across the United States and in 65 countries, Boeing is helping build a more sustainable future for our industry and our planet.
The commitment to environmental leadership is seen in energy efficient products and services that set the standard for reductions in fuel use, emissions and community noise. It’s in the way we operate our factories, offices and other facilities. Over the past five years, Boeing reduced greenhouse gases, water use, hazardous waste and solid waste sent to landfill by up to 26 percent.
Looking ahead, Boeing’s business will be guided by a bold new strategy that further improves our environmental performance and footprint. It includes investing in advanced technologies, such as hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion, biofuel and chemical alternatives.
Meeting climate change and other challenges head-on requires a global approach. Boeing works closely with government agencies, customers, stakeholders and research facilities worldwide to develop solutions that help protect the environment.
Our commitment to a cleaner, more sustainable future drives action at every level of the company. Thousands of Boeing employees are leading activities and projects that advance progress in reducing emissions and conserving resources to improve the environmental impact of air travel.
The environmental challenges facing our industry and our planet are real. Boeing is committed to demonstrating the leadership that will build a brighter, more sustainable future for our employees, customers and communities around the globe.
Our Environment Policy
Boeing is committed to:
- Conduct operations in compliance with applicable environmental laws, regulations, and Boeing policies and procedures.
- Prevent pollution by conserving energy and resources, recycling, reducing waste, and pursuing other source reduction strategies.
- Continually improve our environmental management system.
- Work together with our stakeholders on activities that promote environmental protection and stewardship.
Commercial Aviation
Aviation carries over 4 billion people and about $7 trillion in goods every year to bring more of the world closer together than ever before and make it a better place.
Boeing and the aviation industry recognize that climate change is a fundamental challenge of our time, and we’re united in fulfilling our responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and noise. We’ve made substantial progress, but there’s more work to do.
Each new generation of Boeing airplanes reduces emissions 15-25% more than the previous one. Along with the industry, we are further reducing emissions through the use of sustainable fuels, improving operational efficiency of the global fleet, upgrading air traffic control infrastructure and implementing a global carbon-offset program.
Due to these ongoing efforts, your personal emissions from a flight today are half of what they were on the same flight 30 years ago. To make further progress, more than 75% of Boeing's commercial research and development funding supports greater efficiency and environmental performance in our products, services and facilities.
Boeing Commercial Airplanes and the Environment
The Boeing ecoDemonstrator Program
Boeing and Sustainable Aviation Fuel Development
Research & Innovation
Boeing Research & Technology’s technicians, technologists, engineers and scientists collaborate with partners around the world to solve environmental challenges.
As the advanced central research and development organization of The Boeing Company, Boeing Research & Technology (BR&T) provides innovative technologies that enable the development of future aerospace solutions while improving the cost, quality, efficiency and performance of Boeing products.
This includes finding innovative solutions around the world to improve environmental performance.
From researching biofuels, fuel cells and hybrid electric propulsion to improving air traffic management, finding sustainable composite materials and exploring new chemical coatings that resist corrosion, our team of technicians, technologists, engineers and scientists collaborate with research and development partners around the world to solve today and tomorrow’s environmental challenges.
Boeing Research & Technology has also partnered and contracted with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in researching both next generation and futuristic technologies and concepts that could make aerospace products more environmentally efficient.
Remediation
Each year, thousands of people visit Santa Susana in Simi Valley, Calif., to learn more about the site’s important place in history and experience firsthand its beauty and biodiversity.
Boeing’s remediation program is focused on using innovative approaches in cleanup efforts to ensure the protection of human health and the environment, coupled with the use of invaluable input from community members and environmental groups. This, combined with the guidance of leading environmental scientists and federal and state regulatory agencies, has led to great progress in cleaning up remediation sites. Boeing also often collaborates with wildlife and conservation organizations to restore habitat for the benefit of wildlife and the community.
Environment Features
Restoration Rockstar Kathy Beaty says, "Hasta Luego, Monarchs" for another season
October 08, 2019 in Environment, Community
Cooler weather marks the time of year when monarch butterflies also pack their bags and head to Mexico.
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Summer's aflutter!
June 20, 2019 in Environment, Community
Native gardens attract migrating monarchs to Boeing sites.
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Products, people and partnerships advance Boeing’s sustainable future
June 05, 2019 in Our Environment, Environment
From building the most fuel-efficient aircraft on the market to finding a creative second life for excess carbon fiber, innovations, new technologies and worldwide environmental initiatives are driving Boeing’s progress toward a more sustainable future.
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Boeing offers biofuel to customers flying their new commercial jets home
March 08, 2019 in Our Environment, Environment
Option available for Boeing deliveries from Puget Sound, will then expand sustainable aviation fuel opportunity to other Boeing sites.
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Remediation: Environment’s past, present and future
March 08, 2019 in Environment
In successfully planning for a sustainable future, addressing the past is essential. At Boeing, that means implementing remediation activities, cleanup, and restoration of at-risk sites contaminated through past practices.
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Clearing the air: Boeing helps airlines adopt global plan to cut emissions
March 06, 2019 in Environment
How Boeing is supporting the aviation industry’s goal to cap carbon emissions growth by 2020 and cut them to half of what they were in 2005 by 2050.
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Fish, farming and flight: Desert-powered airplane is a worldwide first
January 23, 2019 in Environment
Producing sustainable aviation biofuel on land that can’t be farmed using water we cannot drink.
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