Before passengers jump in and start eating their meal on their next international flight, they may want to think about where their plastic fork has been. Of course, for some, it may be better to just ask no questions at all.

For anyone that has ever said that it’s easy going green, they should try saying that to the staff that works at Qantas who are in charge of cleaning plastic cutlery. That’s right, just recently Qantas has to go on the defense about one of their green policies. This would be the one that sees the airline re-use these plastic forks on their flights.

The carrier was very quick to point out that the cutlery is cleaned, sterilized and, of course, inspected for any deterioration before being re-used on other flights. According to a spokesperson for the airline, plastic cutlery used on international flights can be used up three, four and even five times before having to be thrown away.

Plastic cutlery on Qantas domestic flights, which can carry up to 50,000 passengers on a weekday, were not recycled, however. This is because of the sheer volume of passengers and because there’s a higher proportion of economy passengers than business and first class.

Qantas also defended itself and its recycling policy by saying that plastic cutlery used on board its flights were more robust than the disposable plastic on take away cutlery. Also, by reusing the plastic cutlery, Qantas is doing its part to stay green.

Although everyone wants airlines to go green, this may not be what they had in mind. Despite this fact, this is a good way for an airline to go green. So as long as Qantas keeps these eating tools clean, it’s just better for passengers not to ask where their plastic cutlery has been.