SUSTAINABILITY
Green pioneers Airport World reviews a handful of pioneering new sustainability initiatives and salutes Swedavia for becoming the first operator to achieve Net Zero emissions across its airport network.
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an Francisco International Airport (SFO) has announced the expansion of its industry-leading plastic-free policy to prohibit the sale of any beverages in plastic bottles. In August 2019, SFO became the first airport in the world to prohibit the provision or sale of single-use water bottles in plastic or aseptic paper packaging. This policy has now been expanded to prohibit the sale of any beverages, including sodas, teas, and juices in plastic or aseptic paper packaging. “This is a significant moment in our goal to achieve zero waste going into landfill,” enthused airport director Ivar Satero. “We took a very important first step two years ago, and now we take the next step towards a plastic-free future. “Throughout this journey, it has been our SFO business community which ensures our success, and we thank our partners for having the courage to be leaders in our industry.” In 2016, SFO established a goal to achieve zero waste going to landfill. To achieve this goal, SFO has been working with concessions and tenants on supporting policies, including a requirement to provide single-use food ware in compostable packaging. Based upon waste characterisation studies, 33% of the items sent to landfill from SFO are food or food service ware and beverage containers. In August 2019, SFO implemented a Zero Waste Concessions Policy to prohibit the sale of water in plastic bottles or aseptic paper
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packaging. At the time, approximately 10,000 bottles of water were being sold at SFO every day. This expanded programme further avoids the energy-intensive production and diverts 1,000,000 fossil-fuel-based beverage containers a year from landfill. SFO has provided airport retailers with a guide of approved alternatives to plastic beverage bottles. In addition, SFO installed 100 hydration stations across the airport to expand access and encourage passengers to bring refillable bottles.
Net Zero CO2 emissions for Swedavia’s airports ACI Europe has welcomed Swedavia’s announcement that all ten of its Swedish airports have achieved Net Zero CO2 emissions across all operations under its control – a world first. Swedavia has therefore become the first company to deliver on the European airport industry pledge to become Net Zero by 2050 at the latest. Marking the milestone as it published its Annual and Sustainability Report, Swedavia mapped out the next steps in its commitment to climate change, which is to support other companies and organisations at its airports to further transform their operations to become more environmentally friendly. ACI Europe’s director general, Olivier Jankovec, remarked: “Swedavia’s achievement is the culmination of a tireless focus on a sustainable future.
