Is Málaga Airport Environmentally Friendly?
In recent years, Málaga Airport has taken numerous measures to decrease the facility’s environmental footprint and become a greener, more sustainable operation. These are just a few of the measures taken so far:
-To save energy, lights throughout the airport are gradually being replaced with modern low consumption induction lamps which are controlled by a program that takes the season and available sunlight into account. Many areas are equipped with movement sensors to turn lights on when people enter and off when they exit. A low consumption air conditioning system has also been installed.
-To reduce waste, the airport not only encourages passengers to recycle by providing receptacles throughout the facilities, but also involves employees through a special service that collects waste from all offices to prepare it for recycling. All airport waste – including toxic materials, batteries, printer and copier chemicals and ink cartridges as well as office machines – is taken to a waste treatment plant on site. There, rubbish is separated and most is sold to different recycling operations. These are the recycling figures for 2004:
Paper: 67,930 kilos
Glass: 11,020 kilos
Aluminium: 45,369 kilos
Plastic: 13,990 kilos
Special provisions are also made to clean up any oil spills from planes or vehicles and thus protect the environment from these chemical pollutants.
-To save water – and particularly to protect water resources in a dry region – the Málaga airport monitors its system for leaks in order to eliminate them. The airport has its own well which is registered with the Spanish water authorities and carefully monitored. The airport used reverse osmosis to treat some of its drinking water.
-To reduce noise pollution, most planes using Málaga airport are equipped to limit noise. Also, the area around the airport is sparsely populated and mostly used for agricultural purposes.
-To protect passengers – in the most environmentally friendly manner possible – from the threat reduce posed by birds and small animals invading the runway zones, Málaga airport uses falcons and eagles to dissuade them. Birds in particular can cause to the engines and windows of aircraft while rabbits, hares and other small creatures also pose a threat to air traffic during take-off and landing. Málaga airport has teams of specially trained falcons and eagles that operate throughout the day to keep the airfields clear and safe.
