What really happens to your confiscated airport contraband

Are all the pricey perfumes really destroyed? Is that nice bottle of chianti now gracing a security agent’s dinner table? We reveal all

It has happened to us all. The 200ml bottle of sun cream hastily stuffed into hand luggage before an early morning flight –only to have it swiftly confiscated at airport security.
While changes to the post-9/11 liquid rules mean that, soon, we won’t have to remove our duty-free perfume from bags before boarding, there are still a host of items that remain contraband. Shaving foam, corkscrews, scissors, hiking poles and fire extinguishers are all forbidden in the cabin, with many items – even lithium batteries – forbidden in the hold, too. But what really happens to those items once they have been confiscated?
There has long been a suspicion that some items – especially those high-quality souvenirs and expensive perfumes – never make it to the official disposal sites. But – officially, at least – most airports have a public policy dictating what happens to them.
At Gatwick, for example, more than two tons of confiscated toiletries have been distributed to local communities. The unopened items (the likes of shower gels, shampoos and deodorants) are given to the Crawley and Horley Hygiene Bank, and are then used to support two schools, three food banks, a baby bank and a charity for homeless veterans. 
A similar scheme was introduced at Luton Airport in 2019. In its first six months, some 40,000 items were donated to local food banks. Passengers can also choose to post their items home (or to their holiday destination), or store items in their hold luggage if deemed safe. Apparently, donating the items to charity remains the most popular option. 
A more recent partnership with redistribution network His Church allows for the removal of discarded work tools – items that would previously just have been disposed of. Items such as drills, screwdrivers, hammers, pliers and wrenches are all forbidden, for understandable reasons, from entering the cabin.
Heavy-duty items are reused by charities and community-driven organisations such as the UK Men’s Sheds Association in vehicle restoration and “wellbeing projects”; last year, £10,000 worth of tools were saved from landfill and instead donated. Similar schemes operate in the United States, too.
At Washington’s Ronald Reagan Airport, its “donate, don’t discard” scheme has led to around 2,300 items being given to non-profit organisations each month (though this caused a recent furore on X, when one poster pointed out that by redistributing the liquid-based items, the airport was confirming that “they know they aren’t hazardous”). 
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! @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/jdCUdwal0r
Research by MoneySavingExpert.com has found that, per year, Stansted Airport disposes of more than 21 tonnes of aerosols a year, while Liverpool John Lennon discarded 12 60-litre drums of sharp objects in 2019. In a separate study, Manchester Airport disclosed earlier this year that its most confiscated item at security is, “by far”, cigarette lighters.
Airline rules state that passengers can have one lighter with them in their hand luggage, so long as it is kept in a clear liquids bag (and doesn’t contain more than 100ml of fluid). Any more than that, and the item will be removed. In one morning, some 284 lighters were confiscated, alongside 22 pairs of scissors, five multi-tools, four corkscrews and two packs of darts – all of which were disallowed for having too sharp a blade.
The airport does allow passengers to reclaim their items for 30 days after travel, using a “non-permitted item return service”, either by having the items posted to them or available at left luggage on return. 
New CT scanners were supposed to be introduced across all UK airports on June 1 this year, allowing air passengers to leave these items in their bags. The advanced scanners can, in theory, spot liquids and other contraband without their being removed, thus speeding up the security process.
Six of the UK’s airports would allow passengers to take up to two litres of liquid on a flight, facilitated by the new equipment. However, most have been unable to introduce the new – much larger – machines into terminals in time, meaning that the deadline has been extended. To add to the confusion, Teesside and London City airports have managed to introduce the new technology, meaning liquids and electronics can be left in luggage (although communicating this to passengers can sometimes cause as much consternation as if the rule were not there at all). 
It is at London City Airport that passengers are, perhaps, the most discerning about their priorities. Last year, the airport’s COO disclosed that one of the most confiscated items at the airport was Marmite. The consistency of the breakfast spread means that it is classed as a liquid, and therefore jars of the stuff – which are usually more than 100ml in capacity – have to be disposed of before passengers can pass through security. The airport also noted that snow globes can fall foul of similar rules, meaning that your wintery gift might not make it home. 
For some airports, confiscated belongings have been the spur for creative projects. In 2019, staff at Vilnius Airport in Lithuania constructed a 5ft-tall Christmas tree out of scissors and blades, turning the contraband into a festive decoration. Until those new scanners are introduced, then, it pays to be aware of the rules, lest your belongings become a seasonal bit of scenery at the terminal.