Feb 17, 2020
New Delhi: Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has become free of single-use plastic usage.
The Confederation of Indian Industry – ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CII-ITC CESD) that supports the business community towards achieving sustainability, today certified GMR-ledDIAL for its successful voluntary implementation of “Single Use Plastic Free Airport” measures within IGI Airport’s Operations, the GMR group said in a release here.
In September 2018, following the World Environment Day theme of ‘Beat Plastic pollution’, Delhi Airport was the first Indian airport to make “single use plastic free” commitment in 2019. From April 2019 onwards, it initiated a holistic campaign at Delhi Airport together with its stakeholders under the banner “Join hands with SUPAMAN”, where SUPA represents “Single-Use Plastic free Airport”.
As a part of the SUPAMAN campaign, approximately 45 different types of plastic products have been replaced with sustainable eco-friendly alternatives at the airport and awareness has been generated among passengers and stakeholders. With the use of eco-friendly sustainable alternatives, the Delhi Airport has significantly reduced its plastic waste generation.
Besides, DIAL installed “four bin” system at key locations in terminal buildings in additions to the existing two bin system for effective collection and segregation of wastes. These separate bins have been deployed for collecting paper, plastic, glass and metal, and food wastes for its segregation at source as biodegradable and recyclable wastes. Further, a series of communications, training and awareness sessions are being conducted in DIAL for its stakeholders. This has led to a significant progress in this area.
Some of the plastic items that are exempt from the list of banned items, include security tamper evident bags (STEBs), sealed PET bottles, pre-packaged materials from manufacturers meant for sale, compostable plastic bags etc.
Commenting on the achievement, Mr. Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO-DIAL, said: “Our objective to make Delhi Airport free from single-use plastic is in line with the Hon’ble PM’s vision to abolish all single-use plastic from India by 2022. DIAL is committed to preserve the environment and do its bit. Over the years, it has taken many initiatives towards environment protection and sustainable development. The “Single Use Plastic Free Airport” initiative is another step towards achieving environmental sustainability at Delhi Airport. DIAL always aspires to lead the Airport Environment Sustainability initiatives, globally. This is a continuous process and requires concerted efforts from everyone who are all associated with IGIA”.
–India News Stream
