There exist many articles about safety on air travel in the press and on the web. It can be read in detail why lithium batteries represent a danger, what regulations have been issued by the ICAO, the IATA, the EASA, the FOCA, etc., how the airlines regulate this and how the airport operators ultimately implement this in the security control.

However, hardly anyone seems to think about the impact this has on the environment. How many batteries and unauthorized items like hoverboards, seagways, e-cigarettes, powerbanks, etc. must be taken from the baggage can not be find out. There are no statistics on this in Switzerland. The Federal Office for the Environment refers to the FOCA, which, in turn, refers to the airport operators and they state that it is the responsibility of the airlines (quotation from Geneva Airport: “Nous ne tenons pas ce type de statistiques, car il s’agit d’une problématique de compagnies aériennes “). The airlines consider the passengers responsible. They have to know the safety regulations and, in case of doubt, they should ask the airline in advance which items are not allowed in the luggage for security reasons. It is all the more astonishing that frequent flyers and professional photographers or film makers are often picked up with forbidden lithium batteries at Zurich Airport.

In Switzerland, these often fully functional or partly new items, which have been taken from the baggage by the police during the security check, can not be passed on to charity organizations, as it is the case in Germany. The items must either be returned to the owner or destroyed. Since security controls at Swiss airports are much more stringent than in other countries, many transit passengers are also affected by the measure.

This is perhaps also the explanation for why at Zurich Airport so many photographers and film teams are affected. A clear disadvantage for Swiss airports. Exactly for that reason transit passengers could take this as an occasion to choose a different airport for future trips.

The costs for storage and subsequent disposal are borne by the airport operators. A transport as airfreight is forbidden in passenger aircraft and is therefore in most cases for the owner of the batteries not worthwhile. The batteries, powerbanks, e-cigarettes, hoverboards, etc. must usually be disposed of or recycled in accordance with the 30-day storage period at Zurich Airport.

Also the increasingly popular electric bicycles are not allowed to be transported on the aircraft, and even within Europe it is difficult to find a forwarding company that can transport an e-bike to a reasonable price.

It is seldom explicitly pointed out by the sales offices that lithium batteries or devices operated with them, can not be carried on aircrafts. Passengers with their, in some cases, freshly bought, products in the baggage arrive again and again at the check-in counter. At an international economic forum, powerbanks were even distributed to the participants, without pointing out that loose lithium batteries can only be transported in the hand luggage. Powerbanks are included in this category, while batteries installed in devices such as mobile phones, razors, etc. can be transported in the checked baggage if they are switched off. In the case of a tracker like the one of Kizy Tracker SA https://www.kizytracking.com it is understandably not desirable to switch off the device during the flight.

There are fundamental questions about the safety of international air travel, the liability and responsibility but also the consequences for the environment. Since there are no statistics for a lot of things, more public interest has to be aroused for this topic. It is always said, “Safety comes first.” But what is the advantage if lithium batteries are taken out of the transit baggage at Swiss airports, when the international safety regulations abroad are much laxer? Especially in the case of lithum batteries, powerbanks, e-cigarettes, hoverboards, etc., it is a question why these functional or even new-quality items in Switzerland have to be destroyed.

Can nothing be done against this economic and ecological nonsense?