Optimising resources thanks to circular economy

In line with VINCI Concessions approach, VINCI Airports has chosen to link up with the circular economies put in place throughout the VINCI Group. The aim is to minimise the carbon footprint of our operations by limiting the volume of raw materials extracted and more systematically reusing and recycling materials. We integrate a growing proportion of recycled materials in all the projects we manage. This principle also guides our action during the operation phase, as we have implemented an ambitious waste management policy.

Taking action on the field

To achieve this goal, we take action upstream to reduce the amount of waste we generate at source and anticipate how we can recycle it.

Reuse or recycle our waste: objective of 0 waste to landfill by 2030

Despite significant differences in the way, recycling systems are regulated in the different countries where it operates, VINCI Airports has set a unified goal for its entire network: to send zero waste to landfill by 2030.

We are working with our subcontractors to eliminate single-use plastics in our stores and restaurants. We also actively engage the public in our efforts, for example, by installing selective waste bins or implementing other innovative initiatives. For example, at Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, we have implemented a program to replace single-use plastics with reusable containers, while in Costa Rica, a waste collection campaign on the beaches near the airport is in full swing.

Downstream, we systematically recycle and reuse our waste, even when local channels are not sufficiently developed or do not exist.

VINCI Airports has built several world-class sorting centers in Salvador, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic, and has established inclusive innovation programs in Cambodia to integrate waste pickers into their waste management chain.

    • 71%
      of recovered waste
    • 41%
      of waste recycled
    • 0
      waste to landfill by 2030

For us, the circular economy has a strong social dimension

Salvador Bahia International Airport has been recognized by Brazil’s National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) as “Brazil’s most sustainable aerodrome in 2019”. Salvador Bahia, Brazil’s first airport to produce zero liquid effluents with 100% of treated wastewater recycled in toilets and for the air-cooling towers, is contributing to the rise of the circular economy.

In Cambodia, to achieve the global objective of sending zero waste to the landfill, our teams are deploying a series of inspiring and easy to copy measures: re-using or extend the life of equipment, separating the waste categories at the source to facilitate the recovery of recyclable materials and the development of inclusive innovation programs to integrate waste pickers in their waste management chain.

=> -25kt unrecycled waste per year in 2030

=> -18ktCO2e per year in 2030

In Cambodia, our teams sort and recycle waste directly on site in order to reduce non-recycled waste and integrate waste pickers into the management chain.

News

  • Planet - 22 July 2025

    In Brazil, five airports operated by VINCI Airports received ANAC award for environmental excellence

    Read more
  • Planet - 10 June 2025

    ACA4+: A new milestone achieved by Edinburgh and Salvador Bahia in their decarbonization efforts

    Read more
  • Planet - 23 May 2025

    VINCI Airports offers sustainable aviation fuel and an electric charging station at Annecy Haute-Savoie Mont-Blanc airport

    Read more