Moscow Domodedovo Airport (IATA: DME) and S7 Airlines say they have pioneered the introduction of a sustainable approach to waste management in Russia. Thanks to the joint initiative, the airport will sort and process for further recycling approximately 45 tons of cardboard, plastic, and polythene per month.
The move relates to in-flight meals packaging (snack boxes). The airport sorts and prepares this type of waste – generated on S7 Airlines flights to Domodedovo – for recycling. The airport estimates that this new approach to waste management enables it to make approximately 20,000 snack boxes (or 1.5 tons of waste) per day reusable.
Domodedovo had to procure new equipment to implement the initiative and its catering facility is now fitted with a separator that can automatically sort waste by type. As a result, the airport says that all types of cabin waste, including trays, plastic cutlery and packaging, are thrown into the correct bins, thereby ensuring the correct waste management processes – compressing, recycling and reusing – are achieved.
Igor Borisov, Domodedovo director, commented: “This joint initiative with S7 Airlines serves as a foundation for the large-scale implementation of sustainable practices, based on the rational use of natural resources.
“In the immediate future, the airport will sort the cabin waste, generated on all flights to Domodedovo”, added
Svetlana Kulyukina, passenger experience department director at the S7 Group added: “S7 Airlines strives to reduce the negative environmental impact. To expand our fleet, we focus on the latest innovations from the leading manufacturers, taking into consideration both efficiency and sustainability. In 2020, we plan to focus on the sustainability of cabin services. The partial recycling initiative is the first, but very important step in this direction.”
