GMR led Hyderabad International Airport Goes ‘Single-Use Plastic Free’

In line with the Govt. of India’s campaign to phase out Single-use Plastics (SUP) by 2022, GMR led Hyderabad International Airport has declared itself as Single-use Plastic free airport from 1^st March 2020; and zero tolerance on usage of Single-use Plastic has been imposed across the airport, which includes all concessionaires and service providers operating at the airport.

The airport had been steadily phasing out use of non-recyclable plastic over the past few years and in the final phase, “Single-Use Plastic Free Airport” campaign was initiated in Feb, 2020 during which the airport stakeholders, like the Food & Beverage (F&B) outlets, fully switched over to sustainable eco-friendly alternatives like corn starch plates, wooden spoons and forks; retailers started using only biodegradable boxes and covers to reduce the airport’s plastic footprint. Besides this, Hyderabad International Airport has also been encouraging Eco-friendly products like Jute Bags through its Corporate Social Responsibility arm GMR Varalakshmi Foundation (GMRVF).

Mr. SGK Kishore, CEO-GHIAL, said: “In line with the Hon’ble PM’s vision to abolish all Single-use Plastic (SUP) from India by 2022, GHIAL has declared Hyderabad International Airport to be a Single-Use Plastic Free airport. It is the culmination of a collaborative effort spanning many years, and we are thankful to our service providers and concessionaires who have supported the initiative in a proactive manner and have been sensitive to the call to make RGIA a Single-use Plastic Free Airport. In addition to phasing out of SUP, we are also promoting eco-friendly alternatives for our service providers/concessionaires and taking up widespread awareness and sustainability campaigns to integrate the entire airport community to work and preserve the environment.”

The airport has taken stringent measures to stop usage of Single-use Plastic and has eliminated all the plastic cutlery from the F&B outlets and any carry bag used below the stipulated norm of less than 50 microns thickness. The efficient waste management model at the Hyderabad International Airport uses the “two bin” system across the terminal buildings for effective collection and segregation of dry and wet waste.

Some of the plastic items that are exempted from the list of the phased out items, include security tamper evident bags (STEBs), sealed PET bottles, pre-packaged materials from manufacturers meant for sale, etc.