Environment
Environment Management
In accordance with the Airports Act 1996, Adelaide Airport is required to develop and implement an Environment Strategy as a component of the Master Plan process. We recognise that long-term business success is closely linked to environmental, social, and economic responsibility.
Our Environment Strategy is underpinned by the Sustainability Policy, Environment Policy, and Low Carbon Statement. Our philosophy, embedded within these policies, is to operate and develop our airports in agreement with the principles of sustainable.
Biodiversity and Conservation
Working to preserve the diversity of nature around us
Adelaide Airport Ltd (AAL) oversees the careful management of all vegetation and wildlife at Adelaide Airport, balancing environmental responsibility and aviation safety. Vegetation is thoughtfully maintained and guided by comprehensive airport landscaping standards, ensuring a sustainable and visually appealing environment for travellers and local ecosystems alike.
Weed and pest management is actively undertaken at Adelaide Airport to control invasive species and minimise the risk of wildlife strikes with airport, ensuring both ecological balance and aviation safety.
Regreening our land
Adelaide Airport has a target of a 15% landside canopy (tree) cover increase by 2030, based on 2018 levels. To achieve this, we have developed a Landscape Guideline which requires all development applications to include a minimum area of space dedicated to green landscapes.
Increasing our tree cover across Adelaide Airport keeps our space cool, improves air quality, and enhances biodiversity.
Unique ecological values
Areas in and around Adelaide Airport provide areas to support biodiversity, such as the Patawalonga Creek. This area is recognised for its habitat value as one of the last remaining stands of remnant Swamp Paperbarks (Melaleuca halmaturorum) fringing the creek and also supports a number of other flora and fauna species of state and/or regional significance.
Measures undertaken to manage biodiversity and conservation at Adelaide Airport include:
- Monitoring and maintenance of Patawalonga Creek area.
- Targeted revegetation works at Patawalonga Creek involving native tubestock, with the assistance of contractors and volunteers.
- Conducting community activities including organised tours and open community access during daylight hours.
As of 2023 AAL extended the area of revegetation to include land along Mountbatten Grove in West Beach, undertaken initially as a Community Grant, and then further planting in 2024 by AAL.
Safety and Wildlife Management
Mitigating potential wildlife risks that could endanger passengers.
Adelaide Airport is committed to upholding passenger and wildlife safety. Bird strikes are the greatest wildlife risk to our aircraft and can cause significant damage, posing a risk to human life.
Management measures have been implemented to track, assess, and mitigate wildlife incidents. These include:
- A wildlife hazard management program, developed in accordance with the requirements of the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998. The program is based on a bird risk assessment, using more than 20-years of census data, which identified birds that pose the highest risk to aviation safety at Adelaide Airport.
- A wildlife mapping tool was then developed in 2008 utilising Geographic Information System (GIS) technology.
- The establishment of the Adelaide Airport Wildlife Hazard Management Committee.
Tenants posing a high risk of wildlife attraction are provided with guidance in developing management plans, with the aim of reducing the likelihood of attracting wildlife to the airport environs.
To ensure landscaping and replanting programs do not produce desirable habitats for high-risk bird species, Adelaide Airport has developed Landscape Guidelines to encourage lower risk vegetation.
Water Conservation
Committed to the efficient use of this precious natural resource.
South Australia is the driest State in Australia, making the importance of efficient water resource management a key focal point for Adelaide Airport.
Adelaide Airport is dedicated to reducing potable water use through the expansion of non-potable water alternatives. Initiatives include:
- Incorporating drought-tolerant species into new and upgraded landscaping designs.
- Implementation of our Recycled Water Irrigation Management Plan.
- Ongoing education of airport personnel, tenants, and contractors on water conservation.
Recycled water
The Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant supplies Adelaide Airport with recycled water for irrigation and toilet flushing in Terminal 1.
In 2012, a stormwater harvesting facility was constructed within the airport’s multi-level car park. This facility feeds stormwater directly into the Terminal 1 cooling system.
We also played a key role in supporting SA Water’s development of the Adelaide Airport Stormwater Harvesting Scheme in 2014. Water collected from the Brownhill-Keswick Creek catchment is stored in the local aquifer and provides a sustainable source of treated, non-potable water for future airport developments.
A variety of waste streams are generated on-airport, including food organics, paper and cardboard, aluminium cans, plastics, electronic, construction, hazardous (e.g. waste oil, fluorescent tubes) and green waste.
The implementation of waste segregation across airport operations has significantly reduced the volume of waste being sent to landfill. Separate bins can be found for general waste, comingled recycling, and organics. Food scraps and coffee grinds from terminal retailers are also taken by a waste contractor to a composting facility where it is turned into a quality compost product that is sold back to businesses and the community. Similarly, Adelaide Airport mulches and composts garden waste on airport for reuse.
Water bottle refill stations have been installed to encourage the reuse of bottles and reduce reliance on plastic bottles.
Mature recycling programs exist in Adelaide Airport offices and many tenancies for paper and cardboard, printer cartridges, waste oil, batteries, drink containers, construction waste, and food waste. A significant proportion of demolition materials from construction projects are recycled into products suitable for road construction and maintenance.