Prestigious recognition for Thiruvananthapuram International Airport; first among Indian airports to achieve this recognition

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport has achieved the Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWL) accolade by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII-ITC) Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development. Thiruvananthapuram is the first among the Indian Airports to achieve this prestigious recognition.

The ZWL assessment verified that Thiruvananthapuram International Airport has implemented the best waste management practices and achieved a 99.50% waste diversion from landfill. The Airport has successfully diverted 100% of plastic waste and 100% of MSW waste (wet and dry).

The process involved the integration of a robust value chain system and adoption of the 5R principles (Reduce, Reuse, Reprocess, Recycle, recover) of Sustainable Waste Management, which helped Thiruvananthapuram Airport to achieve this recognition.

The goal of zero waste to landfill (ZWL) is to divert at least 99 percent of generated waste from landfills while reducing the amount of waste generated. The assessment of ZWL practices at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, was conducted for the financial year 2022-2023. The main sources of waste generation at the site were paper waste, cutlery waste, food waste and road waste, which contributed majorly to the municipal solid waste. The Airport is ISO 14001:2015 standard certified and has an Environment and Sustainability team working on environmental management.

The airport has a waste management system that follows the ISO 14001:2015 standard, which aims to improve environmental performance and reduce waste-based cradle-to-cradle principle. The system involves waste segregation, recycling, monitoring, and reduction, as well as an Environmental Management System (EMS) that sets and evaluates environmental goals. The airport has established well-demarcated sites for the collection of segregated waste and transferring it to the recycling yard & recovery facility.