London Stansted has begun trialling fully compostable bags for passengers carrying liquids in their hand luggage.
The airport says it currently gets through 11 million bags per year.
It has 50,000 of the compostable bags to give out this week.
Passengers have been required to put all liquids, aerosols and gels in clear bags since 2006.
Stansted said the bags have been approved by the Department for Transport and Civil Aviation Authority.
The concept was put forward by three Stansted security employees; Daniel Bryan, Carol Morgan and Edita Andrews.
Passengers will have the option of using regular plastic bags, but will be encouraged to re-use them in future.
Stansted will also be encouraging people to bring refillable bottles to use at its water fountains, and will seek views on topics such as carbon offsetting and public transport access.
It says it has already cut down on waste by donating over 15 tonnes of items surrendered at security to local food banks, giving out 1,500 reusable water bottles and increasing the number of water refill stations at the airport.
It also partnered with a Cambridgeshire-based factory to convert 150 tonnes of coffee grounds produced in a year into biofuel.
Stansted is aiming to grow its annual passenger limit from 35 million to 43 million and is building a new terminal to facilitate that growth, although the plan has been blocked by the local council.
Aviation accounts for 2 per cent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and airports contribute around 5 per cent of that.
But with the industry increasingly under fire for its harmful impact on the environment, and airports facilitating rising flight numbers with ambitious expansion plans in the UK, the US and beyond, airports are looking at ways to improve sustainability in their operations.
London City recently ran a competition to gather ideas for the production of its own recyclable security bags.
Birmingham and Glasgow airports have rolled out electric bus fleets, British Airways is using electric driverless dollies to carry bags to aircraft, while Dublin Airport is switching its 111 ground vehicles to low-emission models.
Read more in our feature ‘From the ground up’:
