From Waste to Worth: The Green Block Helps Turn Airport Surplus into Lifeline Support for Vulnerable Communities

Every day, tonnes of perfectly usable products are removed from the waste stream across the UK’s transport network. Through partnerships with charities, community organisations and airports, The Green Block is helping ensure those items do far more than avoid disposal, they are supporting vulnerable people, strengthening communities and creating tangible social value.
Working alongside Birmingham Airport, London Stansted Airport and local charitable organisations, The Green Block has helped establish and support initiatives that redirect surplus food, drinks, toiletries, other essential items – even suitcases to people who need them most.
At the heart of this work is a partnership with Let’s Feed Brum, the volunteer-led organisation supporting Birmingham’s homeless and vulnerable communities through nightly outreach services and twice-weekly breakfast clubs. The charity provides food, essential supplies, friendship and support to people experiencing homelessness and hardship across the city. Operating with more than 100 volunteers, the organisation works daily to connect vulnerable people with accommodation, support services and practical assistance.
According to representatives from Let’s Feed Brum, items diverted from Birmingham Airport and made available through the partnership can make an immediate difference to people living on the streets.
Many of the products consist of toiletries and unopened items surrendered during airport security processes that would otherwise be discarded.
“Anything we get, we find a home for,” explained Alan Strang, Chair of the Trustees. Let’s Feed Brum.
“For someone sleeping rough or moving between temporary accommodation, everyday essentials that many people take for granted can have a real impact. It’s often the small things that help maintain dignity and provide practical support.”
The charity estimates it supports around 150 people through its breakfast services and wider outreach activity, while its volunteers conduct regular evening walkabouts to engage with Birmingham’s street community, building trusted relationships and helping individuals access longer-term support.
Adam Williams, Managing Director and Co-Founder of The Green Block, believes the partnership demonstrates how the waste sector can create benefits that extend far beyond recycling metrics: “Too often we measure success purely by tonnage diverted from landfill or recycling rates achieved. Those measures are important, but they don’t tell the whole story. Every item that is reused rather than discarded represents an opportunity to create social value, whether that means providing essential supplies to someone sleeping rough in Birmingham or supporting families accessing food banks around Stansted, the impact reaches far beyond waste management.”
The social impact extends beyond Birmingham, at London Stansted Airport a long-running redistribution initiative has helped channel surrendered food, drinks and toiletries to food banks serving communities across Essex and Hertfordshire. Airport figures show that almost 20 tonnes of food and essential household items were redistributed to local food banks in a recent twelve-month period, preventing waste while supporting households facing financial hardship. The programme supports organisations including food banks in Uttlesford, Harlow and Bishop’s Stortford, with redistributed items checked before being distributed through community networks.
The scheme has been recognised as an example of how operational waste streams can be transformed into meaningful community benefits. London Stansted Airport previously received environmental award recognition for its food bank support programme, which was established to ensure suitable items surrendered at security are redirected to local charities rather than disposed of.
For The Green Block, these initiatives highlight the growing importance of embedding social value into resource management strategies. Rather than viewing waste solely as a disposal challenge, organisations are increasingly recognising opportunities to maximise the value locked within materials and products, ensuring resources remain in circulation and benefit communities wherever possible.
“Resource management is ultimately about making better use of what already exists,” Adam Williams added. “When organisations look beyond traditional waste metrics and consider community outcomes, environmental objectives and social impact together, everybody benefits.
The partnerships we’ve helped support in Birmingham and Stansted show what’s possible when operational waste streams are connected with local organisations that understand community need. What might be unwanted in one location can be incredibly valuable somewhere else.”
As organisations face increasing expectations around ESG performance, social value delivery and sustainable operations, The Green Block believes redistribution initiatives such as those operating in Birmingham and Stansted offer a practical example of how environmental and social objectives can be achieved simultaneously.
The company is now exploring opportunities to expand the conversation around social impact and resource management, building on the success of existing partnerships and identifying further opportunities to support communities while reducing waste.