( CNN ) -- Running an airline creates an astonishing amount of waste . Food , fuel , and the millions of tons of waste from worn carpets , uniforms and seat cushions adds up . Fortunately , many have started to get creative with recycling , turning their used goods into bags , quilts , shoes , carpets , and in one instance , a wedding dress . What passengers do n't see when they board a plane is that many components have a shelf life . Life vests , for instance , are only good for six years before they need replacing . Even the seats have an expiration date . `` After so many dry cleanings , seat covers lose their fire retardant coating , so by FAA rules , they ca n't remain on the plane , '' explains Matt Mahler , founder of Tierra Ideas , an design label that 's teamed with Delta Airlines to create bags and wallets from the carrier 's old seat covers and curtains . Since partnering with Mahler in 2010 , the airline has recycled 7,973 pounds of textiles . Gallery : How dead airplanes get a second life . Nothing generates as much potential rubbish as a merger or logo change however . In those instances , any material bearing the old emblem or company colors needs to be scrapped to make way for the new . When KLM changed their uniforms 18 months ago , they had tons of useless fabric on their hands . They decided to give it to Desso Aviation , a carpet company with a zero-waste , 100 % biodegradable approach known as `` cradle-to-cradle '' . Desso wove the uniforms into carpets , which were kitted out on the new World Business Class cabin on KLM 's Boeing 747-400 fleet , this July . Usually , Desso likes to know the background of products , because it affects how the materials will be used going forward . Nylon carpets , for instance , can be recycled , and turned into new carpets . When a wool carpet surpasses its utility , it gets turned into secondary fuel for the cement industry , and the leftover chalk gets used for backing carpet tiles . Delta disposes its carpets in a similar way , saving 340 tons of materials from the dumpster . Finnair has a more do-gooder approach . Old uniforms get sent to clean up oil spills , blankets are shipped to refugee camps in Myanmar and airline seats get fashioned into passenger seats in Finnish Red Cross emergency vehicles . Finnair also donates clothing and furniture to workshops for special needs individuals . `` We do n't need to make a new business opportunity for ourselves ; we 're not in the recycling business and do n't want to go into it , '' says Kati IhamÃ¤ki , Finnair 's vice president for sustainable development . `` Instead , we 'd rather help others find and create new opportunities from our old products , '' Finnair also collaborates with design label Global Hope , which also creates bags from their old uniforms . The carrier also sponsors competitions with local clothing and furniture designers , pushing them to create goods from their discards . Recently , the winner in a Finnish wedding design competition used KLM uniforms to create her couture gown . Report : Airline recycling in 'sorry state ' However , Air France-KLM currently lead the pack in terms of their environmental efforts ( the company has topped the Dow Jones Sustainability Index four years running ) . Sophie Virapin , Air France 's vice president of sustainable development , estimates 80 % of their on-board material is recycled and reused . In December , the airline teamed with upcycling design label Bilum to create bags from old billboard posters and life jackets . The life jacket cases , which retailed for $ 31 , have already sold out . `` Of our projects , the bags were fun and sexy for customers and the media , but they were just one little action , '' says Virapin , who is eager to point out the many less enticing ways Air France has cut back on waste . Plastic meal trays are repurposed to create plastic cutlery , the cables from seat backs are refashioned into headphones and retired aircraft are combed for reusable parts , which either get reborn in newer planes or passed on to General Electric . `` When we launch a new product , we always ask , 'what is the life cycle of this product and what will we do with it at the end of its life ? ' '' says Virapin .
KLM , Finnair and worn gear have teamed with designers to craft bags from worn gear and uniforms . Delta says it has recycled 340 tons of textiles . Delta and Air France 's old carpets turned into secondary fuel for the cement industry . KLM donates old materials to local workshops .