YVR’s waste management program was recently selected as the winner of the 2018 ACI-NA Environmental Achievement Awards in the Environmental Management Award category. The awards, organized annually by the Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA), celebrate the achievements of ACI-NA members in promoting innovative environmental initiatives within the airport community.
While environmental management is a core component of all activities at YVR, did you know that YVR achieved a waste diversion rate of 51%, three years ahead of schedule and 1% above the 2020 target? Check out some of the ways we’re reducing waste at YVR.
- YVR has a centralized food court sorting station in the International Terminal Building. It’s simple - patrons leave their trays on the counter for trained airport staff to sort into the different waste streams. This prevents any confusion and ensures that waste is being diverted properly while improving customer service. We’ve seen an increase in recyclables being diverted and a reduction in garbage – even with the increase in passenger numbers.
- We partner with ChopValue Manufacturing, a Vancouver-based engineering and design company that creates innovative material using recycled chopsticks. This partnership kicked off in late 2016 and since then has diverted more than 228,000 chopsticks from going to landfill.
- All liquid soap in public washrooms was replaced with DEB Refresh Clear Foam Soap. Not only does this unscented foam soap use 20% less water than regular liquid soap, but it also comes in recyclable plastic bottles, compared to the non-recyclable plastic bottles used previously, and leaves no residue behind.
- Canadian Border Security Agency (CBSA) employees use several pairs of latex gloves per day at all security check points at YVR. In 2017, we started working with TerraCycle, a recycling company specialized in recycling typically non-recyclable waste, to offer latex glove recycling services. Latex glove recycling boxes were provided to all security check points at YVR and to date, more than 42,500 gloves have been diverted from landfills.
These are just a handful of ways the team at YVR is helping to divert waste. And we look forward to strengthening YVR’s diversion culture with a number of new initiatives in 2018. Stay tuned.