Putting circularity into action for Heathrow’s zero waste strategy

Opportunity

In April 2023 we were appointed as the programme designer for Heathrow Airport’s H7 Carbon and Sustainability Programme. This initiative aims to cut the airport’s carbon footprint by 2.3Mt by end of the five-year H7 regulatory period in 2026 and lay the foundations to achieve net zero by 2050.

A key element of the programme was a 12-month project, across 2023/2024, to help define and deliver a plan for Heathrow’s ambition to be a zero-waste airport, which is central to how the organisation defines a circular economy. The ambition was to develop policies and strategies with targeted interventions for terminal operation, aviation and construction.

Solution

To deliver this outcome in a short timeframe, a number of our key staff with specialist circular economy knowledge were seconded into Heathrow.

With the team embedded within Heathrow’s business, their initial focus was to investigate different options for waste reduction, to create a baseline goal and targets to be delivered by 2030 that sets the airport on the right path to reduce waste and support a circular transition.

The airport’s overall aim is to not exceed waste volumes from the 2019 baseline.

The initial focus by the Mott MacDonald team was on benchmarking Heathrow’s existing operations with other airports, understanding what current best practice is and reviewing the legislative landscape.

An example of work to understand the current situation included a review of the Heathrow Consolidation Centre, where all incoming goods for the retail outlets are received. Following the review, a RAG rating – red, amber or green – in terms of environmental impact and potential for reuse/recycling for all packaging was proposed.

With 345 food and beverage outlets and 206 shops across the Heathrow estate, plus 89 airlines operating from the airport, stakeholder consultation and engagement was critical. It also highlighted to our team the challenge Heathrow faces in implementing the strategy as a significant proportion of the waste is generated by its supply chain and not directly by Heathrow airport.

A number of different waste reduction solutions were investigated including:

• Green waste tariffs with reduced fees for the supply chain if waste reduction policies are implemented
• A re-use network for construction items that can commonly be re-utilised on site, with temporary items such as hoardings and signage being initially targeted
• Introduction of re-useable coffee cups and a ban on avoidable single use plastics. Operational proposals include use of products-as-a-service, such as lighting, where Heathrow doesn’t own the product and leases it from a specialist.

Another major target area that was identified as having potential to significantly benefit the airport is the reduction of food waste, which is a major generator of methane and a large waste stream for Heathrow. Innovations in food waste treatment, such as a technology that can separate packaged food and break down the food waste to a digestate that could be used to create animal feed or biofuels were proposed. This presented a truly circular waste management solution for the business, where a waste becomes a low impact fuel.

Mapping was used to understand the benefits of a range of different waste reduction interventions, the costs involved in implementing, as well as the funding available, and the infrastructure needed to implement the solutions.

Outcome

The work has fed into a zero-waste strategy report, which will be published later in 2024. The report includes an implementation plan to allow the airport to reach targets defined in the strategy by 2030.

The strategy separates out the road map into steps to reach the goals set for 2030 into terminal operation, aviation and construction with specific interventions for each.

The indicative targets and goals have been fully tested with key stakeholders to ensure the proposals are realistic and have full engagement.