East Midland airport has been prioritising environmental sustainability onsite to become an eco-friendly airport. It’s been known to fly nearly 5 million people each year to their destination, as well as supporting almost 10 million people by employing them on site!
Way back in 2002, the airport established an Environmental Management System, which is checked and analyzed independently every six months. It then became the first ever UK airport to achieve the internationally acclaimed ISO 14001 credentials for its impacts on the local environment.
After continuing to keep the airport environmentally friendly, in 2012, it was awarded as the UK’s first carbon neutral airport in 2012! This was because they managed to get rid of over 3500 tonnes of carbon from its ground operations. As if this wasn’t enough, they also installed the first and only commercial level wind turbines at their site!
They have also invested in eco-friendly transport schemes to ensure they cut down on carbon emission. Back in 2005, the airport started working with the local bus companies in an attempt to get people to use public transport when getting to the airport and back. During its first year, they managed to get 233, 000 people to use the buses. This year marks 15 years of the airport using that scheme and since then, the buses now carry just over 3.5 million people each year! This means that millions of cars are now successfully off the road and this helps to minimise the harmful greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.
Whilst the airport is pleased with its efforts to create a more eco-friendly airport, the work is not over yet. During spring this year, they plan to publish their ‘Net-Zero Roadmap’. This will show what other steps they still need to take to ensure the airport is completely carbon neutral from its ground operation. This is currently managed by offsetting.
The airport plans to continue working with airlines and try to come up with smarter flying, and they hope to continue to decarbonise air travel.
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