Sustainability
In a first for a Scottish airport, we have confirmed that we will construct a solar farm on our airfield.
The site will be approximately eleven-acres and will go live in 2023.
The project, part-funded by the Scottish Government, will see the solar farm be constructed at the end our runway and it will generate around 27% of the airport's energy needs upon completion.
The solar farm is an example of the innovative thinking that Edinburgh Airport is looking to take to play our part in delivering a sustainable future for Scotland, and we are currently finalising the process of appointing a contractor to deliver this Scottish first.
Sustainability is something Edinburgh Airport has looked at for a number of years and we already have a number of ways that we work to achieve this.
As our approach focuses on our four pillars, we have looked at some of the examples of sustainability in our everyday operations to provide people with an idea of what we are already doing.
Since 2016, we’ve invested more than £1m in energy saving projects.
Projects include things like installing LED lighting across the terminal, making our lighting around 30% more efficient.
The energy saving projects have reduced our energy usage by 4,165,000kWh in that time, which is the equivalent of watching 260,000,000 hours of TV! That's a lot of Netflix...
100% of waste produced at our airport is diverted from landfill, with 55% segregated for recycling on site.
Recycling has helped us save 720 tonnes of CO2 in the process, which is the equivalent of boiling a kettle for 614 months. We'll have a tea, thanks.
We have installed two refilling stations in our Departures area, allowing people to refill their bottles from our Scottish Water branded stations.
As part of our terminal expansion, we have installed Fixed Electrical Ground Points on stands, and they enable planes to “plug in” for auxiliary power - this removes the need for fuel powered generators.
Where possible, we have replaced our fleet with hybrid or electric cars. For example, some of our Airside Ops vehicles, which patrol the airfield to ensure safety for passengers and staff, are now powered by electricity.
Edinburgh Airport has an extremely positive impact on Scotland’s economy. In a report conducted by BiGGAR Economics, it showed that the airport generated £1.4 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) and 28,000 jobs in the Scottish economy.
As the place where Scotland meets the world, Edinburgh Airport has sponsored events across Edinburgh, including the International Science Festival, Hidden Doors festival and the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
Over the years, we have grown our public transport offering by working with companies across Scotland to improve access to the airport from Dundee, Stirling, Fife, Glasgow, West Lothian and Edinburgh.
In 2019, approximately 35% of our passenger access the airport using public transport.
As part of the Greater Good strategy we have been evaluating our supply base and identifying those who are demonstrating a commitment to sustainability and CSR.
We have created a sustainable supplier pledge. Suppliers who meet the criteria set out in our pledge are asked to sign up in partnership with Edinburgh Airport, to work together to make our supply chain more sustainable. Our sustainable supply partners will be featured under the Procurement and Supplier Information section of the Edinburgh Airport website.
Sasse, a provider of facilities services, was the first supply pledge partner with Edinburgh Airport following their great work in this area.
We have ensured that all Edinburgh Airport employees employees are paid the Real Living Wage as we absolutely believe that a hard day's work deserves a fair day's pay.
As a Real Living Wage employer, we are working with our suppliers to encourage the same practice.
To enable our people to be the best they can be, we have made significant investment into comprehensive training programmes for staff
Our annual wellbeing staff survey is an important way for us to ensure the welfare of our staff and make changes where we can to improve
We are currently working to update our values and the process has involved colleagues from across the business so we can reflect how our people feel
Our values are created by our people, for our people
Since setting up our Community Fund in 2010, we have allocated more than £1.2 million to local charities and community groups
The Community Fund provides funds to local initiatives to support health and well-being, the environment and education
Since introducing our Corporate Charity of the Year in 2012, we have raised more than £300,000 for charities across Scotland.
We have worked with charities such as SAMH, The YArd, Scotland's Charity Air Ambulance and Children 1st.
Edinburgh Airport staff vote to decide on who we partner up with and we work with our charity to raise vital funds and awareness of their cause
In 2018 we introduced a new noise and track keeping system which allows our local communities to access almost live flight data to increase transparency around noise track analysis.
The online Casper system provides information such as aircraft noise levels, altitude of flights, aircraft types and destinations, and uses information sent directly from three noise monitors in Cramond, Livingston and Broxburn.
Neighbours can draw up their own noise reports using historical data, and the site also contains information on the airport’s noise insulation scheme and an enquiries section.
We created the Edinburgh Airport Noise Advisory Board (EANAB) to represent the concerns of local communities who are affected by aircraft noise associated with our operations.
EANAB ensures any concerns are understood and will report back to local communities on actions intended to improve the situation for those affected. The ultimate aim is to reduce the impact of noise on the local community.
