We are powered by our vision to operate a world class, sustainable airport. As we work to realize our vision, we are looking ahead with a new plan to continue to reduce our impact on the environment.
We are proud to be a leader in environmental stewardship and develop an Environmental Management Plan (EMP) every five years to outline our environmental priorities, inform our decision-making and guide our efforts in taking care of our natural resources.
Our 2020 – 2024 plan builds on the progress made under our previous EMP and sets ambitious, measurable targets for the organization. At the same time, the EMP is a journey that requires action and involvement from everyone. To increase our impact, we will also continue to engage with our passengers, airline partners and the Sea Island community to support their climate action goals.
Here are four important things to know about our 2020 – 2024 EMP:
- We are committed to reducing our emissions and becoming carbon neutral in 2020 and achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Net zero means we will reduce emissions to the greatest extent possible, bringing our emissions footprint to a true zero. To achieve this, we are investing in one of Canada’s largest GeoExchange facilities, which, when operational in 2022, will help to further reduce our emissions. We are also leveraging BC’s clean electricity supply and championing the use of sustainable aviation fuels.
- We will improve water use efficiency by 50 per cent per passenger. Over the last four years, we have reduced water use by 39 per cent per passenger. We will reduce even more water per passenger by installing low-flow water fixtures, completing a rainwater capture system in our new parkade and engaging passengers in water conservation behaviours.
- We will divert 60 per cent of airport waste from landfill. As we strive for a zero-waste future, we’re upping our current waste diversion target from 50 per cent to 60 per cent. We will achieve this by focusing our efforts in three areas: planning, waste reduction and increased diversion. This includes waste audits, working with our partners on Waste Wars, reducing single-use plastics and investing in more smart sortation systems throughout the airport.
- We will continue to enhance and protect Sea Island’s ecosystem. In 2016, we were the first airport to achieve Salmon-Safe certification. We are very proud of this designation and are currently completing a habitat enhancement project on Sea Island in an effort to re-certify as Salmon-Safe in 2021. We will also continue to work with Musqueam to enhance the habitat on Sea Island and protect archeological resources.
Learn more about our environmental journey at yvr.ca/environment.
Read out official news release announcing the EMP here.