Girja Shankar Kaura
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport and Mangaluru International Airport have been recognised by Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific as Single Use Plastic Free Airports as part of its Green Airports Recognition (GAR) Programme 2023.
Airports Council International (ACI) Asia-Pacific has recognised 12 airports in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East for demonstrating outstanding accomplishments in their sustainability projects as part of its Green Airports Recognition (GAR) Programme 2023.
During the past decades, our industry has grown exponentially and is expected to continue to do so in the years to come. As air transport continues to grow, a substantial volume of waste is expected to be generated at airports. One such concern is the increasing worldwide concern about the impact of single-use plastic pollution, especially within the aviation industry. Therefore, the theme for the Green Airports Recognition 2023 is Single- Use Plastic Elimination, a statement from ACI said.
The outstanding airports are awarded into three categories: “Platinum”, “Gold” or “Silver” recognition according to various airport size categories and set criteria.
The recognised airports are: Over 35 million passengers per annum:
Platinum: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport Single Use Plastic Free Airport – Mumbai, Gold: Hong Kong International Airport Accelerating the reduction of single-use plastics at Hong Kong International Airport, Silver: Indira Gandhi International Airport Single Use Plastic Free Delhi Airport.
Between 15-35 million passengers per annum:
Platinum: Kempegowda International Airport (Project: Plastics Circularity at KIAB), Gold: Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (Project: Single-use Plastic free RGI Airport), Silver: Jeju International Airport (Project: The introduction of reusable cups to airport).
Between 8-15 million passengers per annum:
Platinum: Central Japan International Airport (Project: Bottle to Bottle’ sustainable use of PET bottle), Gold: Adelaide Airport (Project: Single-use plastics free precinct), Silver: Bahrain International Airport (Project: Combating single use plastics at Bahrain International Airport (BIA).
Less than 8 million passengers per annum:
Platinum: Mangaluru International Airport (Project: SUP Free Airport), Gold: Christchurch International Airport (Project: Waste Strategy to Circular Solutions), Silver: Kaohsiung International Airport (Project: Plastic-Free Life at the Airport).
The recognised Airports were honoured at the 18th ACI Asia-Pacific Regional Assembly, Conference and Exhibition in Kobe, Japan.
Stefano Baronci, Director General, ACI Asia-Pacific said, “Congratulations to all the recognised airports for demonstrating their leadership and commitment in implementing innovative sustainability projects at airports. These are critical steps as part of our industry’s efforts towards protecting our environment as well decarbonisation. We are impressed with the innovative practices deployed by airport operators to mitigate the plastic contamination. We hope these unique concepts will inspire other airports to implement such practices as we all work towards the common vision of achieving net zero carbon emission by 2050″.
