Wellington, Dec 5 (IANS): Air New Zealand has begun serving coffee in vanilla-flavoured edible cups in an attempt to eliminate waste generated by the eight million disposable cups the flag carrier uses each year.

"It not only retains its warmth but I can also eat this when I'm finished with my coffee," the airlines' head of customer experience, Katie Holmetier, said in a promotional video released on Wednesday.

Holmetier hoped that the initiative would enable passengers and New Zealanders "to rethink the way we interact with anything that goes in the rubbish", reports Efe news.

The airline, which already serves coffee in biodegradable containers, partnered with domestic company Twiice to produce these edible products.

"We're always looking for ways to reduce waste on board, so we're trialing an edible biscotti coffee cup from Twiice," the carrier posted on its Twitter account on Tuesday. "Who's eating their cup once they've finished what's inside?"

Twiice co-founder Jamie Cashmore described the initiative as "terrific" and said it would "showcase to its customers and the world that a little bit of Kiwi ingenuity and innovation could have a really positive impact on the environment while at the same time delivering a really cool and tasty customer experience".

"The cups have been a big hit with the customers who have used these, and we've also been using the cups as dessert bowls," Air New Zealand's senior manager of customer experience, Niki Chav, said in a company statement.

The airline is also planning to develop other edible cutlery of the same kind next year.