London City Airport has launched an eight-week, £10,000, challenge for innovators to design or further develop a new, sustainable, sealable security bag for use at the airport. The competition opened on 21 October 2019 and ends on 16 December 2019.
At London City Airport alone, more than two million single-use plastic bags are used by its passengers every year. New security CT scanners will allow liquids to stay in passengers’ bags, but until this technology is more widely used at airports, non-recyclable plastic bags will remain the norm.
The winner of the Sustainable Security Bag Challenge will earn a prize of £10,000, trial their product at the airport, and if successful, earn a commercial contract to supply it for London City Airport’s passengers.
London City Airport has launched an eight-week, £10,000, challenge for innovators to design or further develop a new, sustainable, sealable security bag for use at the airport.
“As part of our aim to become the most sustainable airport in the UK, we want to find an innovative product that provides an alternative to the plastic bags, used often just once, found at airport security across the globe,” says Alison FitzGerald, Chief Operating Officer, London City Airport. “So now London City Airport has posed the challenge to innovators across London and beyond, to show us what you have or what might be possible, and help develop a usable product that could become the industry standard.”
London City Airport continues to reduce waste in other areas of the business, including the conversion of all its coffee waste to biofuel, with bio-bean, turning four tonnes of coffee waste into a sustainable fuel source last year. To reduce the amount of plastic waste across the airport, London City was also the first UK airport to ban single-use plastic straws. Now the airport is seeking a robust sustainable solution for plastic security bags for passengers.
The airport is also seeking views from its passengers on their appetite to use these alternative products. Trials will take place early next year with the winning design.
The winner of the Sustainable Security Bag Challenge will earn a prize of £10,000, trial their product at the airport, and if successful, earn a commercial contract to supply it for London City Airport’s passengers.
