Charity and recycling are brought together at Helsinki Airport
Begun three years ago, the joint Finavia and Plan fundraiser for the children of the world will be given an extension, when Helsinki Airport improves its recycling of beverage containers. The deposit proceeds from bottles and cans disposed of by passengers will be used for charity.
Empty bottles and cans collected from Helsinki Airport service points, such as cafes and restaurants, have already been part of the bottle return system for some time. However, a small percentage of the total number of beverage containers still ends up in mixed waste. This number primarily concerns beverage bottles, which passengers have discarded before passing through security control.
Finavia has now made it possible for passengers to put their bottles and cans in collection receptacles placed in front of security control, from which they are recycled after passing through the Finnish bottle return system. The deposit proceeds taken from the returns are donated to Plan toward promoting the welfare of children all over the world.
Even though Helsinki Airport has long had designated waste receptacles for passengers, they have not achieved the desired result, nor has it been possible to take advantage of the deposits from bottles.
"I believe that our co-operation with Plan will also encourage passengers to recycle and sort their waste," says Airport Director Juha-Pekka Pystynen of Finavia.
Pystynen estimates that the deposits for approximately 1,500-2,000 beverage containers are collected for charity each week.
"We have been extremely satisfied with Helsinki Airport's Pastille collection and it's great that our co-operation will be extended even further. For us, this is yet another way to collect money for the children of the world. We're also extremely pleased to see that this solves two problems in one fell swoop - we'll be improving the recycling of materials and promoting the rights of children," says Susanna Saikkonen head of fundraising at Plan.
Co-operation between Finavia and development co-operation organisation Plan began in 2008 with the placement of five pastille-shaped donation receptacles designed by designer Eero Aarnio. Passengers were able to donate the loose change left over from their travels in the bright green 'pastilles'. The fundraiser collected a total of EUR 43,000 by May 2011.
The joint campaign was kicked off with the slogan "Give wings to children's dreams", with the promise of making children's dreams come true. The monies collected are used to meet the daily needs of children in developing countries. Together with Finavia and Plan, receptacle donations made in 2009 affected the lives of over 220,000 children.
More information about the pastilles
