Athens International Airport and the Environment
The central message for World Environment Day in 2018 is "Beat Plastic Pollution", calling upon all of us to help stop the pollution of the planet from our use of plastics.
The Airport Company was actively involved in this year's celebration through the organization of a Recycling Competition for all members of the airport community, contributing to the fight against plastic waste and enhancing our recycling program at the same time. In addition, in a first symbolic step, we have withdrawn all single-use plastics from our workplaces, which will be replaced with environmental-friendly alternatives.
AIA has developed a comprehensive waste management system for managing all waste produced on the Airport premises based on “The Polluter Pays” principle, promoting waste separation at the source and providing financial incentives to Third Parties for recycling.
Increase of airport recycling rate from just 3% in 2001
to more than 60% in 2017
Additional initiatives undertaken by AIA with regard to environmental protection and sustainable development concern Climate Change, Biodiversity, Environmental Awareness and other aspects.
An indicative selection of initiatives undertaken are:
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Implementation of a Corporate Climate Change Action Plan resulting in the decrease of AIA’s carbon footprint by more than 40% since 2005.
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Certification of our Energy Management System in accordance with the ISO 50001 standard.
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Pilot implementation via the “Digital Gate II: Airport Innovation Challenge” program of “smart waste bins” to increase the environmental awareness of AIA personnel.
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Recertification of our Environmental Management System in accordance with the latest version of the standard ISO 14001:2015.
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Rewarding of the schools of the Spata-Artemis Municipality for the active participation of their students in AIA’s Recycling Program with educational materials and environmentally-themed excursions. In 2017, the students recycled 7 tonnes of paper, bringing the total amount of material recycled since the program started in 2005 to more than 81 tonnes.
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For the 2nd continuous year we invited students from the local municipalities to the airport in the context of our environmental awareness program. The program includes a presentation and site tour to areas of environmental and cultural interest such as our mobile air quality monitoring station, our photovoltaic park, our Archaeological Museum, our Sewage Treatment Plant, etc. Since the beginning of the school year (2017-2018), we have organized 18 such visits for a total of 803 students and their teachers, while the program will continue in the coming school year.
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Implementation of an environmental education program for the 3rd year in a row in cooperation with the NGO Mediterranean SOS at local elementary schools in order to improve students’ awareness on water management issues. By the end of 2017, more than 3,500 students have participated and been educated on the proper use of this valuable natural resource.
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Scholarships for 2 postgraduate students at the University of the Aegean (Department of Environmental Studies) for the 15th straight year in order to encourage and strengthen academic research in the field of environmental protection.
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 2017, is available at the following address: