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.

Some of the most recent actions that have been implemented concern some circular economy projects launched in collaboration with the Hera Group, Last Minute Market and Cucine Popolari: surplus food from some of the airport's catering outlets are transferred daily to the association's kitchens, which provides 600 meals a day in its city charity canteens.

 

On the side of reducing the use of plastic, the project with Plastic Free Onlus is worth mentioning. This is a project that involves the gradual reduction of the use of this material. Plastic collection decreased by 6.3% in 2024.

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 (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 bricks of over 150 kg which are then sold to the company Aliplast, which belongs to the Hera Group, to produce a transparent packaging film with an 85% recycled plastic component.
  The film produced is used by FFM, thereby reducing the amount of raw material used. Heinemann, the airport duty free company, also supplies the plastic of its packaging.
• Transformation of organic waste into biomethane
  The fraction of wet waste collected at the airport is transferred to Hera to start the production of biomethane. In 2024, over 92 tonnes of organic waste were transferred, transformed into approximately 7,000 cubic meters of biomethane, savings 5.1 tonnes of oil equivalents.
• 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. In 2024, separated waste collection reached 50.4% in the context of a significant increase in passengers.
• Waste reduction
  The objective to aim for is to move from the correct differentiation of waste (separated collection) to its reduction, that is, to stop the production of waste, an even more challenging objective. Thanks to virtuous actions in 2024, unseparated waste fell by 1.53%, although passengers increased by 8.4%. Therefore, the per capita production of waste in general is decreasing. In addition, compared to the figure recorded in 2019, unseparated waste has fallen by as much as 25%.
• 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.