Airport Authority Hong Kong

2015

Top Green Companies In Asia

Airport Authority Hong Kong

Top Green Companies In Asia

2015

About Airport Authority Hong Kong

“We must ensure that workers safety is always our first and foremost consideration and priority”Airport Authority Hong Kong aims to accelerate environmental footprint reductions at Hong Kong International Airport by moving beyond its direct sphere of control to proactively engage with airport business partners and other stakeholders to address specific environmental issues. 

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) was established in 1995 to oversee the operation and development of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) which commenced in 1998. AAHK also engage in airport-related activities in trade, commence or industry. With a staff of some 1,500, a great majority of the airport’s daily operations are franchised out to Airport Business Partners (ABPs), whose 65,000-strong workforce working at HKIA.

Ever since the planning and construction of HKIA in the 1990s, AAHK has worked hard to embed environmentally responsible best practices into its design, construction and operation from the outset. HKIA’s signature ‘big window’ terminal design allows the maximum use of natural light with the minimum of solar heat gain, thereby optimising energy consumption. This approach has been further refined in the design of the soon-to-be commissioned Midfield Concourse.

HKIA demonstrates excellent environmental performance in areas where Hong Kong has world class expertise such as public transport connectivity and reducing potable water by using seawater for cooling and toilet flushing. AAHK invests more time in areas where there are significant challenges for Hong Kong such as carbon and waste management. As a result, AAHK’s achievements in environmental footprint reduction also serve as a useful role model for the wider Hong Kong community.
AAHK has a strong commitment to environmental management, which is demonstrated by its public pledge in May 2012 to make HKIA the world’s greenest airport. To realise this ambitious goal, AAHK has to set an environmental strategy that moves beyond its own control regime, and increases its sphere of influence to guide or influence the activities that are not under AAHK’s direct responsibility. AAHK has adopted a multi-stakeholder engagement approach in its environmental footprint reduction initiatives.

To reduce the airport’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, HKIA pledged in 2010 to reduce 25% carbon intensity in 2015 compared with 2008 levels. AAHK accounts for approximately 40 per cent of the airport-wide carbon emissions while the ABPs account for the remaining 60 per cent. Through engaging and collaborating with ABPs, as well as adopting a series of carbon-reduction initiatives such as banning the use of auxiliary power units of idling aircraft and requiring the use of electric vehicles, AAHK has been successful in accelerating the rate of airport-wide carbon reduction. In 2014, AAHK achieved a 22.4 % reduction in HKIA’s carbon intensity compared to the 2008 level, and is on track to achieve its target.
The catering outlets at HKIA generate a significant amount of food waste, contributing significantly to HKIA’s environmental footprint. AAHK first started its food waste recycling programme in 2003, by composting food waste collected from restaurants and lounges at terminals into soil conditioner for landscaping on the airport island. In 2011, the scope of this programme expanded to all catering outlets at HKIA and 17 ABPs including hotels, airline caterers and staff canteens of the larger ABP, increasing the volume of food waste recycled from 200 tonnes to 1,200 tonnes per year.

The engagement and collaborative approach AAHK takes has proven successful, particularly considering the large number of ABPs participating in the programmes and the close relationship that AAHK has built with them, and with the rate of reductions achieved. AAHK will continue to explore opportunities to apply similar engagement models to other environmental aspects such as air quality, general waste management and water consumption.

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