Swedavia’s passengers donated half a million kronor to Doctors Without Borders
In 2016, passengers at Swedavia's ten airports donated more than half a million Swedish kronor to Doctors Without Borders by giving the organisation the deposit on their bottles and cans at the airports' recycling stations. Now the recycling stations at Stockholm Arlanda Airport will get a new design to make collecting beverage containers easier, smoother and more efficient.
Over the past two years, passengers at Swedavia's airports have provided 25,100 kilos of bottles and cans for recycling at a value of one million kronor, with 12,944 kilos and almost 500,000 kronor collected in 2016.
"Half a million kronor helps a lot of people, and we are proud of our partnership with Doctors Without Borders. It is really great that our recycling stations at the airports can contribute something positive and that we have achieved such fine results. With the new look for our recycling stations, we hope it will be even easier to recycle instead of throwing containers away in a waste bin. In that way, our passengers can take part and help out in these vital operations," says Tove Möller, social sustainability manager at Swedavia.
The money collected will be used where it is needed most in Doctors Without Borders operations across the world.
"Deposits on beverage containers collected at Swedavia's airports are an important contribution in our work to save lives all around the globe. For instance, the 500,000 kronor that was donated in 2016 is enough for 20 tent hospitals that can be used as clinics or operating rooms," says Mari Mörth, Swedish secretary-general of Doctors Without Borders.
"A lot of beverages are consumed at airports, and we are really pleased that our partnership with Swedavia and Doctors Without Borders enables passengers to recycle their bottles and cans while making a contribution to something that is really important," says Rickard Andersson, product manager of Returpack, a Swedish company that promotes the recycling of bottles and cans.
The recycling bins have been updated and feature a new kind of plastic lid that makes it easier and clearer for passengers to use for recycling their bottles and cans. The updated bins are being launched first at Stockholm Arlanda Airport and will be located by the security checkpoints at the airports.
The new bins are made by Väsby Snickeri, while the design and communication material were developed by TEA Arkitekter and Stockholm Design Lab.
In the photo are Mari Mörth, Swedish secretary-general of Doctors Without Borders; Tove Möller, social sustainability manager at Swedavia; and Rickard Andersson, product manager at Returpack, who inaugurated the newly designed recycling bin at Stockholm Arlanda Airport.