NACo (Netherlands Airport Consultants), a company of Royal HaskoningDHV, and BagsID Network this week announced the launch of the Green Baggage Alliance, which is focused on raising awareness around, and reducing, the environmental impact of airline baggage throughout its journey.
The Green Baggage Alliance points out that baggage causes a great deal of unseen environmental harm, from the 300,000 trees lost every year for paper tags used on luggage; to the 32,000 flights required to carry mishandled baggage, producing over 8 million kg of CO2. By optimizing existing baggage handling operations and using emerging digital technologies and innovations, airports and airlines can reduce some of these impacts significantly, while also delivering a better passenger experience to customers.
“Biofuel, electrification and carbon offsetting are often on the agenda – baggage is not,” said Marlon van der Meer, CEO of BagsID, a Dutch-based software-company for computer-vision baggage identification, “That’s why we wanted to work with NACo on the Green Baggage Alliance, to bring attention and awareness to this important issue and partner with others who feel the same way. If we are going to travel around the world, we need to save it, too. It’s the right thing to do.”
The membership-based consortium will invest in research into the impact of luggage on the travel industry, providing a platform for more visibility and fewer barriers for all industry stakeholders, with the hope of incentivizing the industry to unite around reduced emissions and improved efficiency.
