Plastic-free airports
Rome, Florence and Pisa
Rome’s Fiumicino-Leonardo da Vinci airport has taken on the challenge to become a “plastic-free” international hub. Of the plastic waste produced at the airport, 98% is recovered and sent for recycling. With the separation of the waste remaining a strategic priority, the airport has also set itself the goal of a progressive reduction of the waste produced.
As part of this initiative, the airport is building a composting plant that will allow it to transform organic waste from bars and restaurants into compost, thus reducing the quantity of waste produced by over 1,000 tons a year.
In addition, the airport has started a project to reduce the amount of plastic used in the airport in collaboration with airport operators. The aim is to eliminate or gradually replacing plastic such as plates, glasses, cutlery, straws and containers and become a plastic-free airport within a few years. They also started the “hey give me a cork!” initiative to collect plastic bottle caps, which supports placing people with disabilities in the production world. Finally, the airport is installing PET bottle and aluminium can compacting machines at the security controls in the terminals in order to reduce the amount of liquid waste to be disposed of, and ensure that the containers themselves are recovered.
According to management company Toscana Airports, the airports of Florence and Pisa should become the first European airports to be 100% plastic free and at the forefront of water recovery. Every day, a total 150 kg of plastics are collected at both airports and over 3,000 litres of bottled water are thrown away.
The plan, which involves everyone from personnel to passengers (an approach that was also used for the ‘Don’t be an ostrich!’“ campaign), will be developed in three phases:
- Installation of four bins in the security controls area that let passengers empty water and other liquids and put the empty plastic bottles into bins for separate collection. The collected water can be reused in airport systems, for watering or for draining in the bathrooms.
- Installation of drinking water fountains thanks to the collaboration with Acque and Publiacqua and the distribution of water bottles to employees and passengers.
- A total ban on the sale and use of plastics inside the two airports by modifying the contractual clauses for the brands that operate shops and cafes.
