an assessment of airport sustainability, part 1—waste management at copenhagen airport

Airports play a vital role in the air transport industry value chain, acting as the interface point between the air and surface transport modes. However, substantial volumes of waste are produced as a by-product of the actors’ operations. Waste management is therefore becoming especially important to airports. Using a qualitative and quantitative case study research approach, this paper has examined the waste management strategies and systems at Copenhagen Airport, Scandinavia’s major air traffic hub, from 1999 to 2016. The two major sources of waste at Copenhagen Airport are the waste generated from aircraft serving the airport and the waste arising from ground activities undertaken in the land and airside precincts. The growth in passengers and aircraft movements has had a concomitant impact on the volume of waste generated. Swept waste and sludge are processed by an external provider. Waste generated in the passenger terminals and the airport operator’s facilities is handled at a central container station, where it is sorted for incineration, recycling or for landfill. The environmental impact of the waste produced at the airport is mitigated through the recycling of waste wherever possible.