Waste and circular economy

Avoid waste, conserve resources and reduce grey emissions: Zurich Airport Ltd. is committed to the circular economy, with a focus on the real estate sector.

Relevance

The circular economy means keeping products and materials in circulation so that fewer primary raw materials are needed and less waste is generated. By creating and procuring durable, repairable and reusable products, it is possible to slow down and reduce material loops. The second priority is then to close these material loops by recycling materials.

As the building owner with a substantial annual volume of construction and as the operator of extensive infrastructure, Zurich Airport Ltd. has a responsibility to contribute to the circular economy through circular construction, where the aim is to reduce the amount of grey emissions (greenhouse gas emissions generated during construction) and reduce the use of non-renewable materials. At the same time, operation and maintenance are focused on the careful use of resources and the recycling of materials at the end of their service life. This is due to the fact that airports generate different types of waste in various volumes.

Approach

At the Zurich site, Zurich Airport Ltd. focuses on construction activity, which involves significant material flows and quantities of grey energy. It joined the “Charta Kreislauforientiertes Bauen” (Circular Building Charter) in 2024. Together with other major real estate owners, the charter’s founders seek to promote resource-efficient construction in Switzerland, an industry approach which is still in its infancy. In the past year, efforts were primarily aimed at jointly defining standards for the measurement, accounting and reporting of grey emissions and thus laying the foundation for optimisation. The focus in the current year is on calculating circularity. Each partner organisation should also define objectives and develop an action plan with measures. To date, Zurich Airport Ltd. has only applied circular economy criteria to pilot projects. For example, circularity and grey emissions were included in the tender criteria for a multi-storey car park project.

With respect to waste and recycling, Zurich Airport Ltd. has formulated a waste concept at the Zurich site that sets out the applicable principles, so all waste from the airport is recycled or safely disposed of in a lawful, economic and environmentally friendly way. It therefore follows the basic hierarchy of prevention, recycling and responsible disposal. Material loops are closed and material streams minimised wherever possible. The costs arising from waste disposal are passed on to the companies that cause them, thereby creating a financial incentive for them to generate less waste.

Waste disposal principles are included in the general environmental protection regulations, which form part of the company’s tenancy agreements and licences for ground handling operations. Another document, the general waste disposal concept (GEK), governs construction waste at Zurich Airport and ensures its proper disposal.

Zurich Airport Ltd. collects the majority of waste produced by itself and its partners at the airport and sends it to appropriate recycling points. This includes a large amount of general waste, paper and cardboard, along with waste collected by aircraft cabin cleaners. Waste that is collected and disposed of by third parties (e.g. aircraft catering) is also included in the waste statistics of Zurich Airport.

The waste figures at Zurich Airport are calculated in line with the specifications of the German Airports Association (ADV), which allows figures to be compared over multiple years. Mineral waste from construction activities, antifreeze and organic waste from green maintenance are not included in these figures.

Most materials that cannot be recycled can be thermally utilised at the Zurich site. They can be burned in a waste incineration plant and the heat produced can be used to generate electricity or heat buildings in a district heating network. Non-recyclable waste is usually sent to the waste incineration plant in Hagenholz in Zurich, only six kilometres away. During the reporting period, a total of 17,629 tonnes of waste was disposed of at Zurich Airport. This is around 5% more than in the previous year and thus correlated with the growth in passenger volume.

Foreign subsidiaries

The prevention and recycling of waste is likewise of great importance at the sites abroad. At its sites in Chile, Brazil and India, the Zurich Airport Group puts substantial effort into closing material loops and avoiding the negative impact of waste on the environment by disposing of it properly. The majority-owned airports in Brazil have set themselves the goal of substantially reducing the volume of waste sent to landfill. To achieve this, partner companies have contractual obligations and financial incentives to separate their waste and reduce its volume. Moreover, the waste is separated into the different elements by hand with a great deal of effort so it can be sent to a disposal channel of a higher quality. In the reporting year, 92% of the waste generated was no longer sent to landfill, thereby exceeding the 90% target for the first time.

Once Noida Airport in India commences operation, it aims to not send any waste to landfill at all.

Key data