Environmental Case Study: Sydney Airport

Environmental Case Study: Sydney Airport

Introduction

With Botany Bay on one side and the CBD of Australia’s largest city on the other, Sydney Airport has a full range of environmental issues to monitor and manage. Environmental management at Sydney Airport is conducted in accordance with the Sydney Airport Environment Strategy. Sydney Airport is Australia’s busiest airport, with over 8 million international travellers and 15 million domestic travellers arriving and departing on approximately 290,000 flights annually. This makes Sydney Airport a major source of pollution in Australia today.

Sydney Airports environmental Strategy was developed in accordance with the current laws and legislations. It provides the system by which long term and daily environmental management can be planned, implemented and reviewed, in a cycle of continuous improvement.

Sydney Airports Environmental Strategy comprises the following main components:

· Environmental Policy

· Planning, including Environmental Aspect and Risk Identification and Assessment, Objectives, Targets and Action Plans

· Implementation and Operation, including Environmental Responsibilities, Training and Awareness, Communication, Document and Operational Control, and Emergency Preparedness and Response

· Checking and Corrective Action, including monitoring, assessment and auditing, and

· Management Review.

Overview

Sydney Airport has a full range of environmental issues to address in accordance with its day-to-day operations.

These Include:

· Environmental Management and Stakeholder Relationships

· Resource Use (Water, Energy and Raw Materials)

· Air Quality

· Ground Transport

· Surface Water Quality

· Soil and Groundwater Quality

· Noise

· Flora and Fauna

· Heritage

· Dangerous Goods and Hazardous Materials, and

· Waste.

Sydney Airports have established key objective for each of these environmental issues. These objectives follow the principles of the Sydney Airport Environment Policy, setting the direction for the management of each environmental aspect.

Each of these issues have a list of defined priority, developed in consideration of the item’s risk, status of current management, and resources. The priority system categories include:

· A: Highest Priority Actions, to be implemented within 1 to 2 years

· B: Medium Priority Actions, to be implemented within 2 to 3 years

· C: Lower Priority Actions, to be implemented within 3 to 5 years, or as resources permit, and

· D: Actions with rolling, regular timeframes or with timing that is dependent upon external factors.

Airport Environmental Strategy (AES)

This Airport Environment Strategy (AES) provides the strategic direction for environmental management of Sydney Airport over a period of 5-years. The strategy is prepared in accordance with the Commonwealth Airports Act 1996, and the Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 1997.After 5 years a new strategy is completed and it updates and replaces the previous Airport Environment Strategy. Sydney Airport’s First AES was developed in 1999 and was a major success.