40 Environment
Alongside this initiative, Genève Aéroport implemented a training programme on waste segregation for airport-based personnel, including employees, cleaning companies and managers of sales outlets. Equipment for light sorting was distributed free to tenants and concessionaires, particularly for the collection of paper, batteries and PET. There was also a special effort on the sorting of organic waste. Passengers were not forgotten. New bins enabling the sorting of paper, PET, aluminium and, in cer-
This natural wealth has been noted by the canton of Geneva’s Floristic Atlas, published in 2011, which highlights this interest and describes the area as largest of Geneva’s valuable sites. The Nature & Economy Foundation, which aims to promote biodiversity on company sites, awarded certification to Genève Aéroport for the management of its natural areas.
tain places, organic waste, were installed inside the terminal building. Friendly videos encouraging waste sorting have since been released in the boarding lounges and arrivals lounge to spur passengers to do the right thing. There is a positive evaluation of waste-sorting measures undertaken in 2011: the waste sorting rate reached 37% in terminal T1 and the amount of incinerable waste fell by 16%. It is now important to consolidate the measures taken to continue this movement in the right direction.
In addition to these downstream measures, the airport also prompted reflection on the upstream waste cycle, because anything that is unused does not need to be thrown away. As in all shops and restaurants, perishable goods are sometimes removed from commercial channels while they can still be consumed. In 2011 Genève Aéroport therefore began collaborating with an association that collects consumable food products from various catering outlets and then distributes them the same day to charity centres in Geneva.
The airport authorities are implementing many measures to preserve biodiversity. These range from differential mowing to the installation of nesting boxes, via fighting neophytes (alien and invasive plants) and having beehives on the side of the runway.
Certificat La Fondation Nature & Economie décerne à
Genève Aéroport son label de qualité pour les aménagements naturels réalisés sur le site de l’aéroport.
Biodiversity
While certainly unexpected for an essentially industrial site handling millions of passengers a year, the airport has over 200 hectares of grassland. It is also home to around 130 species of birds and 220 various kinds of herbaceous plants.
Avec nos félicitations. Président du Conseil de Fondation
Membre du Conseil de Fondation
Ruedi Lustenberger
Franz-Sepp Stulz
Lucerne, le 13 décembre 2011
Fondation Nature & Economie - 1820 Montreux - www.natureeteconomie.ch