What happens to items confiscated at UK airport security?
It's a holiday scenario familiar to many. You stroll through airport security thinking you prepared, only for guards to give you 'the look', rummage through your bags, and confiscate the bottles and/or toiletries you absentmindedly forgot to take out your hand luggage.
Now, after one airport revealed what they do with surrendered airport items, their response has gone deservedly viral. Washington's Ronald Reagan National Airport posted an image showing hundreds of confiscated bottles and tubs containing hairgel, vaseline and other skincare products, revealing they donated more than 2,300 items to local nonprofit organisations in one month.
Ever wonder what happens when the @TSA makes you throw away an oversized toiletry item @ the security checkpoint?@Reagan_Airport started a pilot program in April where they donate toiletries to local nonprofits. So far, they’ve donated more than 2,300 items! @nbcwashingtonpic.twitter.com/jdCUdwal0r
— Joseph Olmo (@ReporterJoseph) August 13, 2024
Losing an item or two happens to those checks quite often, and the scale of that was captured in the viral 13-second clip where staff were sorting the items. Border security confiscated the products at Reagan Airport in the US as part of their “Donate, Don’t Discard” initiative to see the products go to local charities. The scheme was started in April, saving 2,300 products weighing 526 kilograms from landfills.
What happens to items confiscated at airport security in the UK?
Similar to the initiative in the US, some airports in the UK have given passengers the option to donate their items to charity to save them from going to waste. In 2017, Stansted Airport started a scheme to donate non-perishable foods, drinks and toiletries that didn't meet hand luggage security guidelines. In the first three months of the scheme, 2.4 tonnes of items were donated.
Due to its success, this became permanent, and the airport regularly donated to local food banks. The now award-winning initiative has seen the airport provide three days of nutritionally balanced food by adding other donations from businesses and the local community and supplying those to the chosen foodbank that has supported more than 3,000 families.
Luton Airport started donating items in 2019 and collected 41,207 items to send to local food banks in the first half of that year alone. A spokesperson for Luton Airport told Yahoo News that the scheme is still in place. The spokesperson said: "Passengers have the option of posting the items on, checking in their hold luggage, or donating to our charity partner. Most choose the latter."
Since then, Luton Airport has started donating to 'His Church' to provide them with work tools that go unclaimed and to ensure they can be recycled and reused. Luton Airport said: "In 2023, as part of a one-off donation, £10,000 worth of tools were saved from landfills or recycling and sent to good causes across the UK instead."
Gatwick Airport started donating surrendered items to the charity Hygiene Bank in 2023. A spokesperson for Gatwick Airport told Yahoo News: "So far, more than 6 tonnes of toiletries have been donated now since the start of the partnership."
Other airports have shared news of similar schemes, but it is unclear whether those are still in place today.
Heathrow Airport donated items to local charities in 2013, though a spokesperson told Yahoo News the measure is not in place at the moment. Passengers flying from Heathrow can claim their confiscated item within 42 days through the Mail and Fly service that allows them to post their item to their home address.
This comes with a £10 service fee and shipping costs starting at £26.47 for UK destinations, £51.34 for Europe, and £94.94 for the rest of the world. This option is also available for passengers flying from Bristol Airport and London City Airport.
What are the most commonly confiscated items at UK airports?
Figures from 2017 showed that over 12 months, £1.8 billion worth of products were discarded at security at UK airports, with water bottles accounting for 50% of the stuff thrown away. Alcohol, skin care products, and deodorant were tied in second place, contributing 16% of each figure.
Earlier this year, Manchester Airport revealed how many items were confiscated in one day alone. Cigarette lighters came first and were confiscated 284 times; scissors came second and were taken 22 times.
As it is the summer holidays in schools worldwide, many families are travelling to and from the UK, which means that the number of products seized would have increased exponentially.
