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Fiumicino, Monday, June 23 -The launch of awareness campaigns on environmental sustainability addressed to passengers and airport operators, as well as the recycling of materials from separate waste collection carried out at Rome's airports: these are some of the concrete initiatives that will be implemented at Fiumicino and Ciampino airports thanks to the memorandum of understanding signed today between the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE) and Aeroporti di Roma (ADR).
The agreement is part of a public-private partnership aimed at promoting joint projects in the field of circular economy and environmental protection. The protocol was signed at the Innovation Hub in Terminal 1 of Leonardo da Vinci Airport by Aeroporti di Roma CEO Marco Troncone and MASE Deputy Minister Vannia Gava, followed by speeches by Laura D'Aprile, Head of the Department for Ecological Transition and Green Investments at MASE, and Veronica Pamio, Senior Vice President of External Affairs, Sustainability, and Destination Management. The protocol establishes a shared operational framework within which ADR, a Mundys Group company, and the MASE, led by Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, will collaborate on the development of joint circular economy initiatives. Examples thereof are the recovery of plastic bottles; the collection of spent batteries and small WEEE; the promotion of communication campaigns for the collection of cigarette butts; and projects geared toward the reuse of materials from the recovery and recycling of collected waste.
The protocol also provides for the joint design of innovative systems for materials recovery, with the support of traceability tools and the collaboration of entities such as CONAI, COREPLA, COREVE, CORIPET, the Centro di Coordinamento RAEE and the Centro Nazionale Pile e Accumulatori.
The agreement between Aeroporti di Roma and the MASE confirms how key sustainability is in the development model pursued by ADR, in line with the decarbonization path started and the 2030 NetZero goal, as well as the integration of circular economy principles in Fiumicino and Ciampino airports. The management company of the two Roman airports took this direction some time ago: to date this direction has led to the setting up of biological water treatment plants that allow drinking water to be used for only 25% of the total water needs of Rome Fiumicino airport.
Another example is the Solar Farm, the largest photovoltaic plant for self-consumption ever erected at a European airport: designed by Aeroporti di Roma and built by Enel in collaboration with Circet, it was inaugurated in January 2025 and since a few weeks it has been integrated with PIONEER, the largest energy storage system in Italy—and among the largest in Europe—using second-life hybrid batteries. The system was constructed inside the airport by Enel and ADR with the scientific contribution of the German Fraunhofer Research Institute and enables the abatement of 16.000 tons of CO2 over ten years.
"Sustainable development is among ADR's strategic pillars," said Marco Troncone, CEO of Aeroporti di Roma, "This is a growth objective that goes hand in hand with the environment and the communities that live in and around the airport. This institutional and concrete partnership with the Ministry responsible for sustainable transition fits perfectly into this perspective, which can undoubtedly accompany us in achieving the best results. In addition to guiding our actions in response to climate change—the biggest challenge the aviation sector has ever faced—one of the strategic areas on which Aeroporti di Roma is focusing its environmental attention is the circular economy," Troncone added. "For us, ‘circular economy’ means rethinking the way we serve passengers and airlines, reducing resource consumption and enhancing technological solutions that allow us to recover as much as possible."
"Today we sign an important protocol that marks a concrete step toward a new model in the field of waste management: besides being a place of exchange and mobility, the airport becomes a hub of environmental culture. At a time when flows are growing, conveying the message that well-sorted waste is a resource and not a problem is critical. Alongside the investments on decarbonization, energy efficiency, and plant modernization also envisioned by the NRRP, we are pursuing regulatory simplifications to promote self-sufficiency and system modernization. This nonetheless, we also need a profound cultural change from a linear economy to a circular economy. The environment must be protected every day, starting with the small gestures of each and everyone of us,” said MASE Deputy Minister Vannia Gava.
On the same day, ADR’s role as a global leader in airport sustainability was confirmed after receiving the illustrious ”"Most Sustainable Company in the Airport Industry 2025” award for the third consecutive time. Given by World Finance, a prestigious international platform for economic and financial insights, this award highlights ADR's exemplary efforts to promote innovative and sustainable practices.
Aeroporti di Roma
Aeroporti di Roma is the Mundys Group company that manages and develops Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino airports and carries out other activities related and complementary to airport management. Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino is one of two hubs in Europe, and twelve in the world, with a Skytrax rating of 5 stars for excellent standards in service quality and best airport in the world for airport security. It has two passenger terminals and is dedicated to business and leisure customers on domestic, international and intercontinental routes. The G.B. Pastine Airport in Ciampino is mainly used by low-cost airlines, express-couriers and General Aviation activities.
Over the years, ADR has regularly worked to build the airport of the future—a sustainable and innovative infrastructure that combines operational efficiency with customer focus and a strategy of enhancing Italy's cultural and artistic heritage in all its forms. Partly because of this vision, Fiumicino Airport has been proclaimed by ACI World as Europe's best airport for Service Quality in the “over 40 million passengers” category for eight consecutive years. In 2025, Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino was also confirmed by ACI Europe as "Best European Airport" for the seventh time in the past eight years.
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