Bristol airport and Easyjet have announced a new partnership with the “long-term ambition to achieve net-zero operations at the airport”.
Easyjet – which operates over 70 year-round and seasonal routes from Bristol – will use the airport “as a test-bed to trial and implement the latest technological and innovative solutions for decarbonising its operations and reducing waste”.
The collaboration will include projects and trials in several areas, including electric Ground Power Units and passenger coach transportation, sustainable aviation fuels, recycling and waste management, employee carbon-saving initiatives, and zero carbon emission aircraft turnarounds.
The moves follows Easyjet’s announcement last week of plans to roll out new cabin crew and pilot uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles, which it says will prevent 2.7 million bottles from ending up in landfill, over the course of a five-year contract with Northern Ireland-based manufacturer Tailored Image.
Easyjet introduces uniforms made from recycled plastic bottles
Simon Earles, Bristol airport’s sustainability and corporate affairs director said that the airport would be carbon neutral “for emissions under our direct control” by the end of 2021, four years ahead of schedule, adding that the Easyjet commitment “follows on from the work we have already started in announcing an Aviation Carbon Transition (ACT) Programme with a starting fund of £250k”.
Meanwhile Jane Ashton, director of sustainability at Easyjet, said:
“Easyjet takes sustainability seriously, already offsetting the carbon emissions from the fuel used on all our flights as an interim measure while we continue to champion the development of new technology.
“We will continue to optimise our operational fuel and carbon-efficiency and review what further measures we can take to reduce emissions across our operations.
“This partnership with Bristol Airport is a good example of how we can look at every aspect of our operations, really challenging how we do things by implementing the newest technological solutions across a series of decarbonisation and waste reduction trials over the coming months.”
