Circular economy

The circular economy project launched by Aeroporto di Bologna for the reduction, reuse, recovery and recycling of materials and without the overproduction of CO2 includes several actions, also in partnership with very important local and national entities.

One of the most recent actions implemented is to further increase separate waste collection at the airport thanks to the involvement of passengers and the airport's sales points in collaboration with the Hera Group and Plastic Free Onlus. It is the project for correct waste disposal which also envisages a gradual reduction in the use of plastic.

 

The other circular economy projects.

• Collection of used vegetable oils for the production of biodiesel (OVE Project)
  The waste from the collection of used vegetable oils from the airport's Food & Beverage concessionaires is reused and transformed into biodiesel in Hera Group plants, thus shifting from a disposal cost to an incentive to encourage airport staff to embrace a greener, more sustainable and circular approach.
• Separate collection of plastic from beverage vending machines for the total recycling and reuse at the airport (ReVending Project)
  The collection and recycling of plastic is vital. The collaboration with the Hera Group, Corepla and the Argenta Group gave the green light to the project for the recovery and subsequent recycling of beverage vending machine cups and stirrers inside the airport.
  Special containers are placed near the beverage dispensers (for the moment only in the areas used by those working at the airport, but in a second phase also in the dispensers for the public), which facilitate their collection to be picked up and taken to the Hera Group recycling centres without being contaminated by other materials, allowing them to be recycled and reused in large quantities.
• Separate collection of plastic used for packaging in the cargo area
  In the cargo terminal of the airport where Fast Freight Marconi (FFM) operates, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AdB, an initiative has been launched that focuses on reusing the packaging films that arrive with goods for subsequent transport by air or road.
  The plastic from the films is compressed into briquettes of over 100 kg, which are then sold to Aliplast, a Hera Group company, to make a transparent packaging film comprising 80% recycled plastic.
  The film produced is used by FFM, thereby reducing the amount of raw material used.
• Transformation of organic waste into biomethane for buses and shuttles connecting the airport and the city
  Together for a circular city': Aeroporto di Bologna, Hera and Tper have chosen this slogan to increase visibility on a project already underway which allows to turn the food waste produced at the airport into biomethane to be used for urban mobility on the buses of Tper's methane fleet. Thanks to a series of agreements and an entirely-local supply chain, the three Bolognese companies have developed a project that allows to completely eliminate the consumption of fossil fuels to power a significant share of the methane vehicles circulating in the urban area of Bologna.
  About 450,000 cubic metres of biomethane will be supplied per year: this will allow biofuel vehicles to have the same emissions as an electric vehicle powered entirely by wind energy, adding up all the stages from extraction/production of the fuel to its use.
• Separate waste collection
  In February 2022, with the help of the Hera Group, Aeroporto di Bologna began an expansion of its separate waste collection, raising awareness and training the airport's various food and beverage concessionaires on this issue. To help increase the percentage of separated waste, retailers, car rental companies and other people working permanently at the airport were also involved, with very positive results.
• Waste reduction
  The objective is to move from the correct sorting of waste to its reduction, i.e. not to produce waste, an even more challenging objective. Thanks to virtuous actions, in the first six months of 2024, municipal solid waste fell by 5.5%, despite the fact that passengers increased by 10.4%.
• BLQ as a sustainable destination - BOLOGNA AS A SUSTAINABLE DESTINATION
  Thanks to the Municipal Administration's commitment to combating climate change, the City of Bologna has been selected as one of the 100 cities to participate in the so-called 'Mission Cities of smart cities with zero climate impact by 2030', as announced by the European Commission in April 2022. Aeroporto di Bologna intends to contribute to the achievement of this important goal by linking its own Net Zero Carbon initiatives with those of the City of Bologna.
  At the same time, AdB intends to evaluate initiatives for air carriers in order to attract and reward those that produce less noise and/or lower CO2 emissions. Lastly, AdB promotes listening to and cooperating with local authorities, associations, sector operators and companies to share projects and initiatives aimed at achieving environmental, social and economic sustainability objectives, enhancing the local area itself and promoting sustainable tourism to/from Bologna.

Other initiatives in this regard concern the ESG-oriented improvement of our 'supply chain' by acting not only on the characteristics of the products and services purchased, but also on the qualification requirements of suppliers, with the aim of increasing the volume of 'green supplies' within total procurement.