On June 28 and 29 we received the visit of Aurelio Politano, Project Adviser of the European Commission, responsible for the follow-up of the Life Zero Cabin Waste Project.
On the 28th Aurelio Politano and Marina Garcia of Iberia flew from Brussels to Madrid on a flight with separation of waste on board with the trolley prototype tested during the fourth session of trials. In this way, they were able to see how the crew followed the separation protocol, disposing each residue in the right compartment.
Upon arrival in Madrid, representatives of all the partners involved in the Life Project were waiting at Gate Gourmet facilities: Gate Gourmet, Ferrovial, Ecoembes, ESCI-UPF and BFC. Representatives of the National Contact Point of the Ministry and Raquel Navarrete from NEEMO also attended.
During the meeting the latest advances in the project and the objectives set for the coming months were presented. In addition, the catering facilities were later visited, especially the unloading area, where the flight trolleys are received, and the area of waste compactors.
On the 29th, the meeting continued at Ferrovial facilities in Fuenlabrada, where the waste generated on Iberia’s flights is received. Daniel de la Cerra, Manager of Treatment Plants at Ferrovial, explained the operation of the waste classification plant; how the waste reaches the plant, being classified by materials and collected for its transport to different recyclers. In addition, the different impacts related to the project, the replication options in other European countries and the administrative status were reviewed.
It turned out to be a very fruitful visit in which Aurelio Politano made different contributions to support the progress in the implementation of separation on board and the recycling of different materials to avoid the environmental impact associated with the current disposal in landfill.