Albania's Main Airport Goes Green

TIA recycling facilities | Photo by: Armand Habazaj

Albania's main airport announced on Tuesday that it had expanded is reuse, reduce and recycle programme to include its staff and the 7,000 or so passengers who pass through its gates every day.

“The target of this programme is to maximize recyclable material, minimize the amount of non-recyclable waste at the airport and control the disposal of waste by third parties,” a statement from TIA read.

According to airport authorities, roughly 40 cubic metres of recycled waste are generated every month, which are then collected and disposed of by a specialized company.  

“The idea of 'Reuse–Reduce–Recycle' continues to be an integral part of TIA’s waste management concept,” Andrea Gebbeken, Chief Executive Officer of TIA, said.

“A new waste collection site has been constructed on the maintenance premises and designated as an area for the collection of all waste generated at TIA, [while] a waste compactor has also been installed for the efficient storage of recyclable waste generated by the airport,” she added.  

Tirana International Airport is a limited liability company set up by Hochtief Airport GmbH, Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft and the Albanian-American Enterprise Fund.

The company was granted a 20-year owner-operator concession by the Albanian government in 2005, in the first public-private partnership in the country’s history.

More than 1.5 million passengers travelled through TIA in 2010, and the airport handled 1,785 tonnes of cargo.