Waste and circular economy

Reducing waste and increasing recycling – taking a step closer to the circular economy.

Relevance

A wide variety of waste is produced at airports, on the one hand during operations and on the other hand when maintaining and developing the infrastructure. The company contributes to the circular economy by using materials sparingly and designing systems for a long service life followed by decommissioning and recycling.

As the licence holder at Zurich Airport, Flughafen Zürich AG has defined the principles in a waste concept so that all waste materials across the airport can be safely recycled or disposed of in a lawful, economic and environmentally friendly way. Flughafen Zürich AG collects the majority of waste materials produced by itself and its partners at the airport and sends them to appropriate recycling points. These include a large amount of general waste, paper and cardboard, along with waste collected by aircraft cabin cleaners.

Construction work results in considerable amounts of material for recycling or disposal. As most of this waste is either recycled or disposed of by the contractors themselves, it is not recorded in the waste statistics for Zurich Airport.

The circular economy and waste recycling is also becoming increasingly important at the company's airports abroad. As environmentally friendly disposal is not yet possible everywhere in Chile, Brazil and India, the company is seeking to close material cycles in order to avoid negative environmental impacts.

Approach

Zurich Airport's waste concept is based on the principle of “prevention – recycling – responsible disposal”. Material cycles are closed and material streams minimised wherever possible. In line with the “originator pays principle”, the costs arising from waste disposal are passed on to the waste producers to create a financial incentive for them to produce less.

Waste disposal principles are included in the general environmental protection regulations which form part of the company's tenancy agreements. Another document, the general waste disposal concept (GEK), governs construction waste at Zurich Airport and ensures its proper disposal. During the reporting year the concept was reviewed and revised to take account of some changed conditions, in particular as regards soil removal.

Most materials that cannot be recycled can be thermally utilised. They can be burned in a waste incineration plant and the heat produced can be used to generate electricity or to heat buildings in a district heating network. During the year under review, non-recyclable waste was sent to the waste incineration plant in Hagenholz in Zurich, only 6 kilometres away.

In the reporting period, a total of 12,943 tonnes of waste was disposed of at Zurich Airport. This is around 50% more than in the previous year, which reflects the increase in traffic volumes.

Waste management is one of the highest priority matters to be tackled by the company's subsidiaries abroad. The majority-owned airports in Brazil have set themselves the goal of drastically reducing the volume of waste sent to landfill. By 2025 they are seeking to dispose of 90% of the waste produced each year using better disposal methods than sending to landfill. This proportion is currently around 50%. Once Noida Airport in India commences operation, it aims to not send any waste at all to landfill.

Key data