London City has been recognised as a carbon neutral airport by the Airport Carbon Accreditation programme.
The airport has been awarded the highest accreditation possible by the ACA – Level 3+ Neutrality status.
LCY said it had been awarded the status “in recognition of its exceptional work in managing, reducing and offsetting all the CO2 emissions under its control”.
The airport said it had worked with 48 East London schools to find suitable locations to install solar panels, which will offset the facility’s carbon emissions and also reduce emissions locally. In addition it has invested in a project to generate electricity using solar energy in India.
Commenting on the news Alison FitzGerald, chief operating officer for London City Airport, said:
“Achieving neutral accreditation is a significant achievement which everyone at London City Airport can be proud of. It recognises our efforts to cut carbon emissions in every part of our business, from runway lighting to energy systems, and underlines our commitment to building a more sustainable future for the airport and aviation industry.
“Our efforts won’t stop here. We are committed to becoming the UK’s most sustainable airport. To achieve that, we have set a goal of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 without using carbon off-setting and we are working to create an eco-system in which we directly collaborate with airlines, manufacturers and other partners to accelerate progress and confirm the airport as a leader in sustainable air travel.”
London City is currently in the middle of a £500 million expansion programme, due for completion in 2022, and the airport said that it is aiming for the scheme to achieve “Very Good” status under the BREEAM accreditation – a leading sustainability assessment method for masterplanning projects, infrastructure and buildings.
Other sustainablity targets include recycling or composting 70 per cent of waste materials at the airport, including working with Bio-Bean, the world’s largest recycler of coffee beans, to convert coffee waste into biofuel.
The airport also recently launched a £10,000 award, challenging innovators to design or further develop a new, sustainable, sealable security bag for use at the airport.
London City’s largest operator British Airways recently announced plans to offset emissions on all UK domestic flights from next year.