February 2026
A new TULIPS publication brings together the state of the art on circularity in aviation, ten practical airport use cases, and key lessons for scaling circular economy action across Europe. The EU Atlas on Circularity in Aviation offers airports, policymakers, and sector stakeholders a practical resource on how circular economy principles are being applied in real airport environments.
From Local Pilots to Sector‑Wide Learning
The Atlas was developed with a clear purpose: to increase shared learning across airports, capture lessons from ongoing initiatives, and help the sector move together towards a more circular future. In that sense, it reflects one of the core ambitions of TULIPS — not only to test innovative solutions locally, but also to turn those experiences into knowledge that others can use.
Key Insights for Scaling Circularity
The publication is structured in three chapters.
- Chapter 1 maps the state of the state of the art. It outlines the main trends, frameworks, and regulatory developments shaping circularity in aviation, and explains why circular economy is becoming increasingly relevant for airports from both an operational and strategic perspective. It also highlights a major challenge for the sector: the need for more consistent ways to measure and monitor circularity performance. .
- Chapter 2 presents ten concrete use cases from European airports.
These include material reuse in construction at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, re-use of confiscated batteries at Oslo Airport, reusable cup systems at Brussels Airport and Heathrow, closed-loop recycling of cabin PET bottles at Frankfurt Airport, hydrogen retrofitting of baggage tractors at Hamburg Airport, and integrated circular approaches at Venice Marco Polo Airport. The Atlas also features AI-powered smart bins at Rome Fiumicino Airport, deposit-return collection at Rotterdam The Hague Airport, and residuals upcycling at Stuttgart Airport.
- Chapter 3 draws the main conclusions from these cases.
It shows that visible interventions can support behavioural change, digital tools are becoming essential for evidence-based circular management, and collaboration across the value chain is critical for scaling. It also underlines that pilots create the greatest value when they generate transferable learning and comparable data.
For airports and EU officers alike, the Atlas provides both strategic context and operational inspiration. Above all, it shows that circularity in airports is no longer just an ambition — it is already being tested, applied, and learned from across Europe.
Download the Atlas
You can download the Atlas directly here or visit the Guidelines section on our website (under Publications). In addition to the Atlas, you will find more useful and practical guidelines on circularity in airports.