Every day, hundreds of travellers arrive at security checks with items that cannot be taken on board. At Marseille Provence, these items no longer have the bitter taste of waste: they are now given to those who need them most. Thanks to a unique partnership between the airport, the Samu Social de la Ville de Marseille and Suez, confiscated food and hygiene products are taking a new path, that of solidarity. In a region where more than 200,000 people live in extreme poverty, this simple gesture makes all the difference. 

When a security check becomes a bridge of solidarity

There are scenes that all travellers are familiar with: the brand-new bottle of water left behind before the security gate, the jar of jam brought back from a weekend in Provence, the shower gel that exceeds 100 ml. What used to be a minor travel inconvenience is now a gesture of mutual aid.

Since February, Samu Social teams have been visiting Terminals 1 and 2 two to three times a week to collect these confiscated items and redistribute them to homeless people during their outreach rounds, at municipal showers or through partner associations. 

It is a simple, almost obvious cycle — yet one that is profoundly transformative: 15 to 20 tonnes of goods can be redistributed each year, 60% of which are food products and 40% hygiene products, after sorting and safety checks. 

A region where solidarity goes hand in hand

In Marseille, poverty is a daily reality. The municipal Samu Social — the only one in France — criss-crosses the city seven days a week, distributing nearly 300 meals a day and providing close support to vulnerable people. This partnership reinforces this essential presence.

For the airport, which is firmly rooted in its local community and in contact with millions of travellers every year, this is a way of taking fair, concrete action that is closely aligned with local needs. As Jérôme Dominjon, Multiservices Manager, points out, this initiative is ‘doubly virtuous: it eases security checks for our travellers [...] and limits waste’.

For SUEZ, the initiative is part of a broader circular economy approach: increased waste recovery, resource transformation and social innovation. Since 2019, the airport's waste recovery rate has risen from 19% to 45%, proof of a transformation process that is already well underway.