Bidvest Noonan has been appointed as Birmingham Airport’s (BHX) new waste contractor to help the two-terminal building fulfil its sustainability strategy.
Working in partnership with The Green Block, our business has installed a mobile segregation unit (MSU) at the airport – the UK’s third-largest airport outside London.
The unit, which enables the separating, washing, compacting, baling, weighing, and electronic tagging of waste through sorting and segregation processes, will allow the airport to achieve higher recycling rates. The MSU also reduces contamination of recyclable materials, and since being installed, has prevented 264 tonnes of waste from going into non-recyclable general waste.
The MSU will also give data insights into the breakdown of waste for individual on-site partners and specific areas, to allow targeted improvements across the airfield. The airport is the first worldwide to implement an MSU solution.
Tom Denton, Birmingham Airport’s Head of Sustainability, said: “Birmingham Airport is committed to improving recycling rates, focusing primarily on reducing and reusing waste, then recycling wherever possible. Our sustainability strategy sets out our waste, supply chain and circular economy commitments, and we are always determined to find innovative ways to reduce our environmental impact.”
“The MSU installation is facilitating much more efficient segregation of our recyclable materials, with real-time data breakdown allowing us to drive that all-important behavioural change needed to see continual improvements in waste reduction and disposal best practice.”
Deane Arnold, Terminal Operations Manager, said: “Prior to the implementation of our new waste solution, our recycling figures off-site were averaging between 50% to -55%. Recognising the opportunity to enhance this rate, we embarked on a collaborative effort involving our Operations, Procurement, and Sustainability departments… Just four months into the implementation of this initiative, we have witnessed a significant surge in our recycling rates. In February, our recycling rate reached 68%, and in March, it soared to an impressive 83.2%.”
Keith Middleton, Managing Director, Transport, at Bidvest Noonan, added: “Our partnership has proven that through collaboration and a focus on innovative solutions, we can achieve significant advancements in sustainability. We believe our partnership will inspire others and lead to greater environmental progress across our industries.”