Since the introduction of new recycling bins in the terminal last year, the airport’s recycling rate has increased to 82%. The team is continuously looking into new ways to improve recycling and adopt more efficient procedures. In August last year, it established a partnership with waste disposal experts, O’Brien Waste Management. To date, they have helped the airport recycle over 900 tonnes of waste on average and have the ability to track collections from source through sorting to the end recycled product.
The recycling journey from Newcastle Airport is as follows:
1. All non-hazardous waste is picked up from the airport and transported to O’Brien’s licensed waste facility in North Tyneside where it is segregated.
2. The collection vehicle discharges the material into the Recycling Facilities Reception Hall.
3. The co-mingled material is hand sorted (known as ‘positively picked’) to separate the material into its individual parts: newspaper, cardboard, textiles, plastic bottles, mixed plastic and mixed paper, and the steel and aluminium cans are removed by magnets. Positively picking the waste gives a high quality material with very little contamination; the bays of material are regularly checked by quality control to ensure a consistent standard.
4. The segregated material is then loaded onto the baling machine where it is compressed and tied into individual bales; the material is checked again by Quality Control at this stage.
5. The bales are then taken to the bale storage area to be loaded onto vehicles for transportation.
6. The segregated bales are then sent to the UK’s largest reprocessors for their transformation into new products:
o Paper - newspaper
o Glass - aggregate or new bottles
o Metal - cars, pipes, fences etc..
o Plastic - toys, TV casings and bottles
o Wood - furniture, kitchen work tops
o Cardboard - packaging for TVs, fridges, and other household goods.
Graeme Mason, Planning and Corporate Affairs Director at Newcastle International, said: “We are extremely proud of the work our dedicated team carries out to ensure our recycling rate stays high, and we feel it’s important to raise awareness about what happens to waste when it leaves the airport. Newcastle Airport would like to thank all of its passengers, staff and business partners for working with us on our recycling initiatives. We will continue to strive to further improve our environmental performance.”
Nathan O'Brien, Director of Waste Management at O’Brien’s, added: “We are delighted Newcastle International has taken so many positive steps to increase recycling and awareness throughout the airport. The partnership has been a great success so far, especially given the large amount of passengers involved on a daily basis. Our aim is to reach a goal of 100% recycling rate and we strive to achieve this together.”