Malta International Airport reduced landfill waste by 20 per cent even as passenger numbers grew by 23 per cent between 2019 and 2024, underscoring the company's commitment to minimising its environmental footprint, MIA said Friday.
The introduction of organic waste collection in 2021 yielded immediate results, reducing landfill waste by nine per cent compared to the previous year and boosting the share of recycling significantly. To encourage better waste separation practices among the workforce, the following year a bonus-linked company-wide target that measures landfill waste per passenger was introduced.
"We believe that responsible waste and resource management is driven by people as much as processes. Given the thousands of people working on airport grounds, encouraging more responsible behaviours is an important building block of our efforts to divert more waste from landfill and improve our overall practices," said Justine Baldacchino, Head of Sustainability and Analytics at Malta International Airport.
Last week, Malta International Airport employees were invited to attend an educational session organised in collaboration with WasteServ as part of the European Week for Waste Reduction (EWWR) being celebrated between 22 and 30 November. Among the topics discussed were Malta's various waste streams, the difference between household and commercial waste, and the significant environmental impact of daily choices.
Beyond its internal initiatives, the company said it also seeks to engage stakeholders and project partners in its waste management efforts. In 2024, environmental award criteria, including waste management clauses, were introduced in tenders, enabling bidding companies with robust environmental policies and compliance with industry-specific regulations to achieve higher scores during adjudication.
"When waste is generated by more than 5,000 employees and stakeholders together with over nine million passengers, its proper management becomes both a more complex endeavour and a real opportunity to make a big impact. Another layer of complexity arises from the fact that we deal with more than 10 waste categories that are disposed of in different ways," said Rosemarie Barbara, Administration and Housekeeping Specialist at Malta International Airport.
Passengers are also encouraged to be a part of the equation by ensuring they dispose of their waste in the correct bins and bringing a reusable bottle that can be filled up from the three water fountains available. Between 2021 to 2024, these fountains are estimated to have prevented more than 741,000 disposable water bottles from being used.
To achieve a broader local impact, Malta International Airport said it also extends its waste-related efforts through the Malta Airport Foundation. The Foundation has been organising annual underwater clean-ups since 2020, collectively eliminating around 14 tonnes of marine waste from our seabed, and sponsored two Seabins to help keep Malta's waters cleaner.