An Assessment of Waste Management at a Major European Based Air Cargo Terminal Operator: A Case Study of Frankfurt Cargo Services

Abstract

Air cargo terminal operators play a vital role in the global air cargo supply chain by acting as the key interface point between the air and surface transport modes. However, air cargo terminals produce both hazardous and non-hazardous wastes as a by-product from their operations. Using an in-depth qualitative longitudinal research design, this study has examined waste management at Frankfurt Cargo Services (FCS), one of the major European based air cargo terminal operators. The study period was from 2008 to 2019. The qualitative data was examined by document analysis. The case study found that Frankfurt Cargo Services (FCS) total annual non-hazardous wastes increased from 770 tonnes in 2009 to 1,525 tonnes in 2019. The company’s hazardous wastes fluctuated over the study period from a low of 5 kilograms in 2009 to a high of 2.52 tonnes in 2010. The case study revealed that there were no reported hazardous wastes from 2014 to 2019. Frankfurt Cargo Services primary waste management method is the recovery of wastes. The annual recovered wastes increased from 770 tonnes in 2008 to 1,530 tonnes in 2019. The company’s waste recovery rate increased from 95.3% in 2008 to 100% in 2019. Frankfurt Cargo Services (FCS) disposed wastes increased from 36.37 tonnes in 2008 to a high of 58 tonnes in 2017 and 58 tonnes again in 2018, respectively. There were no reported disposed wastes in 2019. During the study period, there were no reported wastes that were disposed to landfill.