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London Luton Airport Rises To Green Challenge

Published: 16 June 2008

In recent months London Luton Airport has developed its recycling capabilities by installing recycling points for use by passengers in the terminal building and regular glass and cardboard collection for its shops and catering outlets.

The Airport is now looking to expand this project to other areas of the business during the remainder of 2008.  To put this into perspective, in April alone 16 tonnes of waste were recycled at London Luton Airport instead of going to landfill.

The UK's Recycle Week, from 2nd to 6th June, raised the nation's awareness of green issues and opened up a wider challenge to businesses to get involved. London Luton Airport took last week's Recycle Week as an opportunity to encourage staff, business partners and the local community to think again about recycling.

To highlight this further during Recycle Week, London Luton tasked three local primary schools to produce sculptures from waste cardboard, paper and plastic during an afternoon art session at the Airport. Wigmore Primary, Wigmore Someries and Pirton Hill Junior Schools rose to the challenge and created fantastic models of an aircraft, the terminal building and the control tower.

Adam Divney, Community Relations Executive said "The Airport is focusing on green issues in our community and by issuing this challenge to the local schools we are highlighting a serious message in a fun and absorbing way. The sculptures were amazing and showed great imagination."

Cheryl Shearman, Teaching Assistant at Pirton Hill Junior School said "It was really good to see the children working together as a team and against the clock.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the challenge to create art from waste and enjoyed being at the Airport."

Notes to Editors:
London Luton Airport is one of the UK's largest airports with passenger numbers nearing ten million in 2007, an increase of nearly 400 per cent over the last decade.  Employing close to 500 staff, the airport is a major economic driver for the region, as well as a major base for 'low cost' or 'no frills' air travel.

EasyJet, Ryanair, Wizz Air, Monarch Scheduled, Aer Arann, Thomsonfly, SkyEurope, First Choice, XL Airways, Flybe and Thomas Cook operate from the airport, departing to over 80 destinations including services to Europe and Africa.

The airport is operated and developed by a consortium of which Abertis Infraestructuras, a leading European infrastructure provider, is a 90 per cent majority shareholder and Aena Internacional, the international business arm of Aena - the Spanish national airport and air traffic control organisation, is a 10 per cent shareholder. 

In January 2008 London Luton Airport launched its Community Engagement Strategy, which sets out the Airport's formal commitments to the community up to 2012.  The strategy focuses on three action areas, 'A Better Environment', 'A Vibrant Neighbourhood' and 'A Growing Economy', identifying priority programmes in each one.
 
As well as outlining the Airport's priorities for the next five years, the document also summarises its commitments for 2008, which include the publishing of a revised environmental policy, practical support for at least 20 local community projects and the development of a schools outreach programme.