PRESS RELEASES
07 JUNE 2016
Athens International Airport and the Environment
  • Actions and programmes on the occasion of World Environment Day
  • Environmental Awareness Awards from ECOPOLIS


This year our company actively participated in the celebration of World Environment Day by organising a One-day Recycling Competition for airport employees, aiming to raise awareness and encourage recycling across the airport site. In addition, AIA is organising a one-day workshop on June 10th on Biodiversity and Climate Change in Eastern Attica in which representatives from government Ministries, Local Government, Universities and NGOs will participate.

AIA's enduring commitment to protecting the environment has been recognised and rewarded several times. At this year's ceremony for the ECOPOLIS Environmental Awareness Awards, which took place on the eve of World Environment Day 2016, AIA received an award for its work in monitoring ecosystems in the area of airport, protection of biodiversity and management of wildlife. At the same time, the environmental performance of AIA has been recognized in a number of other key areas, including Waste Management, Recycling and CO2 Emissions Reduction as well as for its overall contribution to Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development.

An indicative selection of initiatives undertaken by AIA to reduce its impact on the environment is as follows:

  1. Renewal at Level 3 (Optimisation) of Airport Carbon Accreditation, a voluntary programme launched by Airports Council International aiming to help airports manage and reduce their carbon footprint.
  2. Achievement of a recycling rate of 52% in 2015, approaching the target of 60% set for 2016.
  3. Rewarding of the schools of the Spata-Artemis Municipality for the active participation of their students in AIA’s Recycling Programme with educational materials and environmentally themed excursions. In 2015, the students recycled 7.2 tonnes of paper, bringing the total amount of material recycled since the programme started in 2005 to more than 62 tonnes.
  4. Implementation of an environmental education programme in cooperation with the NGO Mediterranean SOS at local elementary schools in order to improve students’ awareness on water management issues.
  5. Scholarships for 2 postgraduate students at the University of the Aegean (Department of Environmental Studies) in order to encourage and strengthen academic research in the field of environmental protection.
  6. Implementation of the programme for the Upgrade and Protection of the Vravrona Wetland for the 9th consecutive year in collaboration with the Hellenic Ornithological Society. In the framework of the programme, 2,106 pupils from 45 schools visited the wetland in 2015 and discovered with its unique ecological and cultural value.


Environmental publication “Care for the Environment”
The latest edition of our annual publication “Care for the Environment”, which describes in detail AIA's environmental activities in 2015, is available at the following address: http://www.aia.gr/ebooks/ENC/CareForTheEnvironment/Issue18/index.html



                                     
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