“A meeting of the minds”

“You learn something new every day”

“Change is good”

“Many hands make light work” …

I could go on but I think you get the point.  These familiar idioms are just some that come to mind when describing the joint sessions of the Operations and Technical Affairs and Environmental Affairs Committees this afternoon. After a day and a half of meeting separately, our groups got the chance to come together today and discuss issues of mutual concern, view these topics from a different perspective, and encourage communication and cooperation between the two groups.  Environmental affairs and operations professionals aren’t necessarily focused on the same set of priorities on a daily basis.  But there is a lot of overlap, and it really shows in our members’ enthusiasm for these joint sessions.

The first joint session focused on Airport Sustainability and featured speakers from both committees.  Sustainability is not just the purview of environmental managers. Airport planners, maintenance, and operations professionals are integral to implementing sustainability practices and environmental management systems.  You can’t put in solar panels on the roof of an airport parking garage or terminal without the close coordination between environmental managers and operations and planning experts.

In our second joint session, Ops/Tech Chairman Sam Sleiman (MassPort) moderated a diverse panel of environmental committee members, Willis Reinsurance, Corps of Engineers and ACI-World staff.  Despite viewing climate change risks and adaptation through different lenses, they all had one thing in common: a desire to protect airports from climate change risks.

Kicking off the panel, Sleiman admitted that he used to be a climate change skeptic, but now believes “climate change is the greatest challenge of our generation”.   He pointed out the tremendous potential impacts of climate change on airports, which will affect both coastal and land-locked airports, including sea-level rise, extreme weather events, water and fuel shortages and growth restrictions to name a few.  Thinking about all these potential challenges, it is more important than ever to break down organizational silos and work together in order meet these challenges head-on and protect our industry.  After all, there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’, and if all else fails, having a team is essential so you can blame ‘the other guy’!

In all seriousness, today has been an exciting day with a lot of great information shared between our members and presenters.  One of the perennial favorites is the information sharing session, which is an open discussion forum for members to talk about current projects at their airports, share best practices, and offer advice (or sympathy) to colleagues facing the varied environmental challenges in this industry. Typically topics raised in this session turn into full panel discussions at our next conference.

Another great session today was the presentation by Chris Straub from Argus Consulting on airport fuel hydrant systems.  With my limited knowledge of fuel hydrant systems, I found this session to be very educational regarding the engineering involved in building and maintaining hydrant systems as well as the applicable federal regulations.

The bottom line as far as hydrant systems go is to get educated on the type of fueling system your airport has, the location of the infrastructure (to avoid damaging the underground components during construction projects), and potential regulatory requirements coming down the, well theoretical pipeline!  If you would like to learn more about hydrant systems, or any other topic discussed at the Environmental Affairs pre-conference seminar, please visit our website to view speakers’ presentations which will be posted by the end of next week.

Albuquerque International Sunport, Aéroports de Montréal, Vancouver International Airport and the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest Program (which is comprised of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Portland International Airport, and Spokane International Airport) have been selected as winners of Airports Council International – North America’s (ACI-NA) 2011 Environmental Achievement Awards.

“Airports remain focused on better understanding and mitigating impacts to their natural environment and local communities by implementing inventive programs that reduce the environmental effects of their operations,” said Greg Principato, ACI-NA president. “ACI-NA’s Environmental Achievement Awards provides the opportunity to showcase how committed airports are to green building, sustainability and environmental management in their construction projects and everyday operations.”

Environmental Management Award Category:

Albuquerque International Sunport’s Sustainability Management System earned them the Environmental Management Award. Their Sustainability Management System is in place at both the Sunport and Double Eagle II, a general aviation reliever facility, and has launched an effort towards sustainability that has become intrinsic to the management culture of these airports.  A major part of the sustainability effort at the Sunport has been the application, and eventual acceptance of Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Voluntary Airport Low Emission (VALE) Program grants.  The goal of the VALE Program is to reduce the amount of regulated pollutants and other harmful air emissions generated by sources at airports.

Outreach, Education and Community Involvement Award Category:

Vancouver International Airport won this year’s Outreach, Education and Community Involvement Award with the Quest Food Exchange Partnership.  Vancouver International Airport works in partnership with The Quest Food Exchange to reduce the amount of food waste generated at the airport.  The Quest Food Exchange, also known as Quest Outreach Society, is run by Quest, a non-profit organization that assists low-income individuals and families in the Metro Vancouver to overcome their barriers with dignity and encourages self-sufficiency. Surplus foods and various consumer goods are collected from donors and redistributed via Quest stores or partner agencies. Donating to Quest Food Exchange not only reduces waste, saves money, and protects the environment, but also provides foods and goods to people in need. Since the partnership began in late 2010 over 2,000kg of food from various airport food outlets and businesses has been diverted from landfill. In addition, this partnership fosters positive airport community relations and employee engagement.

Mitigation Award Category:

The Mitigation Award went to Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) for their Tree Policy.  Mindful of sustainable development and respect for the environment, the ADM Tree Policy seeks mainly to protect areas of high ecological value on airport property and to offset the environmental impacts of projects.  Additionally, ADM attempts to develop their facilities while ensuring that they coexist in harmony with the surrounding area, in particular with regard to environmental quality. From this perspective of environmental protection, ADM acknowledges the important role of trees in urban environments, namely that they contribute to enhancing regional ecological heritage, are effective in combating the “heat island” effect, and have aesthetic value, as well as the improvement of air quality.  ADM’s Tree Policy is implemented at both Montreal-Trudeau and Montreal–Mirabel airports.  Within the last 2 years, 5 greening projects were conducted and 2 are underway.

Special/Innovative Projects Award Category:

The Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest Program, comprised of the Port of Seattle, Port of Portland, and Spokane International Airport, won the Special/Innovative Projects Award.  Together with their Steering Team partners – Boeing, Alaska Airlines, and Washington State University – and consulting facilitator Climate Solutions, these three airports convened more than 40 stakeholders and observers to assess the feasibility, challenges and opportunities of scaling up a commercially viable and sustainable renewable aviation fuels industry in the Northwest U.S.A. The SAFN initiative takes place within a global network of seven (7) similar stakeholder processes led by Boeing, which all support the broader aim of achieving carbon-neutral growth across the aviation industry beyond 2020.  The SAFN results, published as a report on May 25, 2011, provide a “flight path” for scaling up this industry in the Northwest U.S.A.  The innovative SAFN approach and results are already being considered for adoption by stakeholders in other regions of North America.

Since being established in 1997, the Environmental Achievement Awards contest has generated immense interest throughout the industry and has catalyzed numerous environmental programs at airports.

Award winners will be recognized at the ACI-NA’s 20^th Annual Conference & Exhibition in San Diego, CA, October 19, 2011, during the Chairman’s Honors Luncheon.

Winners in each category are selected by a three-judge panel based on the project’s environmental benefits, innovation, effective implementation, widespread applicability and cost-effectiveness.  Judges for the 2011 Awards Program were Steve Alterman, President of the Cargo Airline Association, David Bell, editor, Aviation and Environment News and Noise Regulation Report and Tom Bennett, Environmental Specialist at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Hiran Perera; Picture courtesy of Emirates SkyCargo

By Aneil Patel

The breakfast keynote speaker at the ACI-NA Air Cargo Conference was Hiran Perera, Senior Vice President Cargo Planning and Freighters of Emirates Airlines. Perera travelled all the way from Dubai and was in Washington D.C. for less than 24 hours to address the air cargo conference attendees.

He briefly highlighted the importance that air freight contributes to the airline industry and the wider global economy. Air freight currently accounts for over 40 percent of global merchandise trade by value and provides estimated annual revenue of almost $55 billion worldwide.

The cargo industry plays a critical role as it is involved from the procurement cycle to the delivery of the finished product. Liberal and open sky policies are great catalysts and can trigger unconstrained growth capability, which is important for any developing economy.

Fuel prices are the number one threat for any airline and are doing the greatest damage to the aviation industry. High fuel prices and increased currency volatility could threaten the longstanding relationship between GDP growth and the increase in air cargo volumes.

In 2009, Emirates took delivery of two Boeing 777’s. Perera explained this was the worst time to receive new aircraft; however, he described them as “recession friendly aircraft.”  This was because Emirates successfully managed to fully utilize both 777’s. With the help of passenger and freighter aircraft, cargo revenue currently contributes for 18 percent of Emirates total airline revenue.

Emirates Airlines is proud to have accomplished their environmental commitments.  In their short history, they have managed to operate the world’s largest fleet of Boeing’s eco-efficient 777’s pioneered by Emirates through use of innovative navigational technology and journey management, and created new routes across the skies to save precious time, fuel and emissions.

In keeping with the environmental commitments, Perera referred to the need to push for e-freight “Vision to Reality.” This involves replacing the paper trail associated with the cargo supply chain with electronic messaging. E-freight can eliminate an estimated 7,800 tons of cargo weight allowing increased cargo capacity for the customer and give a massive saving of $4.9 billion dollars worldwide. Eliminating 7,800 tons of paper will allow the Air Cargo Industry to contribute to conserving the environment and reducing the carbon footprint.

I joined ACI-NA after spending about 3.5 years as a policy analyst with The Boeing Co.’s government operations office.  In that capacity I focused on federal regulatory and legislative environmental issues, including climate change, biofuels, chemical policy, the Clean Air Act, as well as international trade and other commercial aviation policy issues.  I gained a lot of valuable experience working at Boeing and have a strong understanding of many aviation environmental issues from a manufacturer’s perspective.

Prior to working at Boeing, I was fortunate enough to start my career in the aviation industry with the International Air Transport Association.  At the time, IATA had just opened their Washington office and I was one of three people working there.  There are many benefits to working in a small office, the largest of which is the chance to do many different things because there is no one else to do them!  I was able to work on a number of policy issues affecting IATA’s airline members, both domestic and international.  In my role as congressional liaison I managed legislative affairs on issues of concern to the commercial aviation industry, and had the opportunity to work with International Civil Aviation Organization and Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection.  It was during this time that I became aware of the challenging environmental issues the industry faces, and decided that this was the area in which I wanted to focus my career.

I am currently pursuing my M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy at the Johns Hopkins University, and am on track to complete the degree next spring.  So far the program has been a challenging yet wonderful educational experience, and an even better networking opportunity.   Many of my classmates are federal employees hailing from many different agencies, including EPA, FAA, Congress, DOT, DOD, as well as consultants to all of the above.  For my undergraduate work, I received my B.A. in Political Science/International Affairs at the University of Florida (Go Gators!).

Before I came to D.C., I worked with the Florida House of Representatives, a small government affairs firm in Tallahassee, and completed a public diplomacy internship with the U.S. State Department in Leipzig, Germany.

I currently reside with my husband and two dogs in Columbia Heights area of Washington, D.C.

This year’s event was held in Tucson where we also had the opportunity to tour the “Boneyard” at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.  I’m not a big aircraft junkie at all, but this was truly fascinating.  2,600 acres house over 4,000 military aircraft brought there for maintenance, storage, parts reclamation, and disassembly.  And, now I know that “B” stands for “bomber” (Wait, what’s the opposite of junkie?  That’s me.).  During our tour we were reminded of the old saying “Jet Noise:  The Sound of Freedom.”  I’m not sure everyone shares that sentiment when it comes to commercial aircraft.

The “Boneyard” at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.

At the symposium, I was fortunate to moderate an intriguing session focused on a variety of mechanisms airports and community groups use to communicate about aviation noise.  Speakers from Boston, Teterboro, Raleigh-Durham, and Philadelphia airports highlighted such tools as complaint tracking, web-based noise disclosures, and online flight crew briefing.  Representatives from the communities surround O’Hare and San Francisco International Airports discussed their community-focused website and educational “Fly Quiet” program video, respectively.  The panel provided a range of perspectives in identifying the most successful ways to keep an open, educated dialogue between the various parties working to address the impacts of aviation noise while ensuring the safety and efficiency of the aviation system.

Later I overheard an airport representative (who was attending along with a member of their local community) reflect that their community representative did not previously realize all the tools airports across the country are using to communicate about noise.  The session seems to have served its purpose in educating, and hopefully inspiring, attendees to enjoy the sound of communicating about noise.

The need to better integrate planning and subsequent National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental review activities was a recurring theme in our sessions.  Project formulation—sometimes known as bridging—was one particularly useful technique identified to enhance this integration.  Project formulation efforts—which include more detailed planning, engineering, and design studies than are typically included in master plans—serve to “bridge” information gaps that between master plans and NEPA.

It was especially satisfying to see planners and environmental specialists with only one or two years of experience work collaboratively with experienced facility and environmental planners in our “hands on” class exercises.

Special thanks to Long Beach Airport Director Mario Rodriguez, who hosted us this week, ACC staff who made the event possible, and our hard -working event steering groups that pulled together informative and provocative course sessions.

Environmental Management Award Category:
The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s “Environmental Strategy Plan – A Vision for 2010 and Beyond” earned them the Environmental Management Award. Serving as a roadmap for achieving Seattle-Tacoma’s ecological conception, it provides a framework for annual planning, budgeting and accountability by identifying the measurable environmental outcomes that they would like to achieve by 2014. Since its completion in 2009, the Strategy Plan has provided the organization with a new and dramatically improved sense of focus for its environmental actions, and a blueprint for a more sustainable future. Seattle-Tacoma feels this plan is a linchpin for the success of its environmental program and can serve as a role model for other airports.

Outreach, Education and Community Involvement Award Category:
Portland International Airport won this year’s Outreach, Education and Community Involvement Award with its Airport Futures project. Airport Futures was a collaborative process involving the Port of Portland, the City of Portland and the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan community to create a long-range (through 2035) master plan for Portland International Airport and a city land-use plan governing the airport and its environs. A 3-year process, Airport Futures facilitated a public discussion about sustainable development that resulted in the identification of the community’s vision and values. The airport can now effectively integrate sustainability principles to its development plan in a manner that contributes to the long-term economic, environmental and social health of the region.

Mitigation Award Category:
The Mitigation Award went to Southwest Florida International Airport for their exceptional Wildlife Management Program. The airport utilizes various projects that analyze problematic habitats and species to develop specialized methods of prevention. The formation of a Hazardous Wildlife Working Group in 2005 improved communications between Environmental Compliance, Airport Operations and Airport Maintenance to assist in the implementation of new and innovative deterrence methods. And in March 2008, the airport initiated a Wildlife Hazard Assessment that used a unique methodology that broke down species into hazard guilds, assigning relative risk values to more effectively focus on specific airfield areas that attract the highest risk species

Special/Innovative Projects Award Category:
Buffalo Niagara International Airport is the second airport to win the Special/Innovative Projects Award for its Wetland Treatment of Glycol Contaminated Stormwater Program. An improved stormwater collection system captures concentrated deicing flows from all airport gates, stores it at a low point on the airport property and pumps it to the wetland treatment system. Though the treatment system utilizes natural wetland processes, it actually occurs within aerated gravel beds topped with mulch and plantings. These beds appear simply as a mowed field. The cells, four in all, are each about the size of a football field, 1.5 meters deep and lined with high-density polyethylene material. Here, using a number of unique features, the glycol is broken down in two to three days as it travels through the engineered wetland treatment system.

Willkie kicked off the session with a description of the need for better integration between planning and NEPA processes.   Melisky followed with a historical perspective of the issues related to the integration of these processes.  He noted that as far back as 2000, Congress had expressed concerns about project delays associated with lengthy NEPA processes.  He noted that FAA’s study of the issue revealed that these delays were often attributable to breakdowns in data or communication between planning processes and subsequent NEPA efforts.

Vigilante described the efforts of ACI-NA has had underway to address these issues.  These efforts recently culminated in development of a best practices manual that describes practical steps that airport operators, the FAA and their consultants can take to improve integration between the two processes.  This manual will be released in the next couple months for ACI-NA member review.

Full provided the significant findings and recommendations from an Airport Cooperative Research Program project he led that focused on how to better   He pointed to stakeholder coordination and communication as critical prerequisites to successfully transitioning projects from planning to NEPA.

Busch concluded the panel’s discussion with a review of steps members can take going forward.  He also noted that ACI-NA would be discussing these issues in much greater depth at the upcoming ACI-NA Airport Planning Redefined Course and NEPA Workshop in Long Beach, California from October 18-22.

Regarding SMS, Mike walked the Ops/Tech Committee through the details for FAA’s recently released Airports SMS Order, which describes how FAA implement SMS within the Office of Airports and what impacts the Order is likely to have on airport operators.  He noted a key impact would be the FAA’s conduct of safety risk management (SRM) reviews on a variety of airport-developed documents, including requests for modifications of design standards, airport layout plan submittals, and proposed changes in noise abatement flight procedures.  He also summarized some of the data needs and review processes that will be associated with these reviews.  During his remarks, he stated that the FAA expects to have the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the “external” SMS program—which airport operators will be required to implement—by the end of the calendar year.

With respect to AGIS, Mike cited program benefits and noted the reasons why the FAA is pursuing the program.  He also stated that the FAA will soon be issuing its long-awaited AGIS Implementation Plan, which will discuss how it plans to roll out the program at airports across the country and noted that a dedicated AGIS manager will be on staff at FAA Headquarters in the very near future.

At Environmental Affairs, Mike focused on recent developments with respect to wildlife hazard management, including the status of the FAA’s rulemaking efforts that would increase the number of airports that have to prepare wildlife hazard assessments.

The 10 participating airports are Nashville International Airport, Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport, Newton City-County Airport, Denver International Airport, Fresno Yosemite International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport, Outagamie County Regional Airport, Renton Municipal Airport, and Teterboro Airport.

Each airport will be required to establish a sustainability policy or mission statement, sustainability categories, baselines for those categories, measurable goals to minimize impacts, sustainable initiatives to achieve those goals, and a public outreach plan.  Flexibility is key to each airport program.FAA will be evaluating the plans and the process by which they were developed to gather information that can be used to develop program guidance.

Ten international airports are currently working with a diverse stakeholder group to develop an airport sector supplement to the third version of GRI’s Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, otherwise known as “the G3 guidelines”.  The four North America airport representatives participating in this stakeholder group – Matt Harris (SAN), Phil Ralston (PDX), Randy McGill (YYZ), and Janell Barrilleaux (DEN)— led the workshop.

As we’ve learned, GRI goes beyond environmental issues to deal with a broad range of topics, including financial, economic, administrative, and operational considerations.  Matt Harris cited the funding sufficiency of pension obligations and employee wage rates vis-à-vis prevailing local averages as examples.

Why use the GRI guidelines?  Matt, Phil, Randy, and Janell cited accountability, transparency, consistency of reporting, a forcing mechanism for continuous improvement, and building trust with the both community and airport leadership as reasons why airports might develop a GRI reporting program.  The panel also noted GRI can be used to increase visibility of sustainability within an airport organization and develop a common understanding among the varied departments within airport organizations.

One concern raised during the meeting involves the amount of staff time required to collect, evaluate, and report all of the metrics specified under GRI.  It was emphasized, however, that airports could choose how many indicators to report.

The second half of the workshop focused specifically on the draft GRI Airport Operator Sector Supplement, which was issued in July and is open for public comment through Nove.10.  Janell and Phil walked participants through the supplement with a specific focus on the airport-specific commentary developed.

I left the workshop with a better understanding of the broad reach sustainability considerations can have—including financial, quality of service, labor/human resources, and economic issues.  I also left the meeting with a distinct sense that we need to collectively define the benefits that airport operators can gain through the use of GRI guidelines.

Prep work for the terminal expansion.

The terminal expansion (137,000 square feet) will nearly double the size of the existing building, provide three new gates and allow them to double the number of security lines (from 4 to 8).  The new gates are needed in order for Portland to be able to attract new carriers, so they can continue to provide a variety of schedule and fare options to the 1.8 million passengers who pass through the jetport annually.  The roadway to the terminal is being reconfigured and when complete will provide separate approaches to the terminal for arriving and departing passengers.   Finally, the expansion will give Bradbury the room to install an inline baggage handling system, which was purchased using the $9.2 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding they received from the Department of Homeland Security.

Work underway on the geothermal heating system for the expanded terminal.

Construction is also underway on a $3 million geothermal project that is estimated to reduce oil consumption at PWM by more than 100,000 gallons per year, which in turn will reduce energy costs by an estimated 80 percent.  The Federal Aviation Administration provided $2.5 million through a Voluntary Airport Low Emissions (VALE) grant for the project.  Once completed, 500 gallons of fluid per minute will circulate through 11 miles of plastic tubing to heat and cool the new terminal addition.  The project is expected to pay for itself within three years through energy savings.

As if there weren’t enough hardhats to be seen at PWM, they are also in the process of completing work on a de-icing fluid recapture facility which will recycle used aircraft deicing fluid.  The funding for this project, $2.138 million, also came from the stimulus bill.

The new de-icing fluid recapture facility will enable the fluid to be recycled.

Bradbury estimates that directly and indirectly the jetport supports more than 11,500 jobs and contributes $860 million to the regional economy.  The expanded terminal, the cost conscious new energy source and the environmentally friendly deicing facility should serve as a reminder to Southern Maine that the Portland International Jetport takes it role as a key economic driver seriously.

Between Oct. 2008 and Oct. 2009, Alaska Airlines experienced 309 bird strikes. These strikes were reported by flight crews on walk-around, by mechanics or by pilots as in-flight incidents. She reported that even if there is no damage, a fuselage strike can cause a 1 ½ hour delay for inspection, debris removal and required paperwork write up. Engine strike inspections can take 5 hours for borescope inspection and can be much more disruptive if the airplane is at a station not equipped for borescope inspection or engine replacement. Of the 309 strikes, 263 required only clean up and documentation, 16 caused damage (3 of which were noted in flight) and one caused a Rejected Take Off. These strikes cost $1.6 million in delays and inspections, not counting replacement engines or repair costs.

Alaska Airlines hopes to reduce geese traffic with pulsing lights.

Alaska collaborated with Qantas Airlines, who had been experimenting with pulsed landing lights as a possible way of dispersing birds at low altitudes. The technique involves circuitry changes to pulse the outboard wing landing lights from bright to dim approximately 46 times a minute while the airplane is below 18,000 feet. The Qantas experience indicated that the technique resulted in a 30-50% reduction in bird strikes.

The pulsed lights have been evaluated by FAA at the Atlantic City test center and are also being studied by the USDA. Alaska is seeking FAA and airframe manufacturers’ assistance in making the pulsed lights standard on new aircraft, speeding up the Technical Standard Order process for retrofitting existing aircraft and accelerating research on avian vision tied to landing light design.

For further information contact Dick Marchi (rmarchi@aci-na.org).

I want to especially thank Patrick Graham and the entire Savannah Airport Commission for their gracious hospitality.  The conference was a huge success thanks to the help of SAV.

While the conference covered a plethora of important topics (airline/airport negotiations, state of the regional airline industry, the power of social media, contingency planning for irregular operations, designing terminals for the 21st century…just to name a few), I was especially struck by one particular topic: in-flight waste.

Here’s a staggering figure to consider.  For every six hours of commercial flight within the United States, 1,000,000 disposable cups are used on-board commercial aircraft.  That’s right. 6 flying hours=1 million plastic cups.

Did you know that an estimated 7.5 million pounds of trash is generated by the America’s aviation industry everyday? The goods news is airlines and airports are working everyday to ensure their operations are environmentally sound.

During the Commissioners Conference, we were extremely fortunate to hear from the Director of Environmental Affairs at Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air, Carol Sim.  If you didn’t know already, these airlines are leading the industry in reducing in-flight waste, especially Horizon Air.

Horizon was incorporating recycling practices within their operations well before it became cool to bring your own burlap bags at the local grocery store!  Since the mid 1980’s, the airline has recycled everything from aluminum cans and bottle glass to coffee grounds. They even recycle stretch wrap, cardboard and corks (btw, that glass of wine is free to Horizon passengers). Incredibly, nearly 70 % of all in-flight waste is recycled by Horizon and the airline is looking to approach 100% in a few short years.

Of course, Horizon works closely with its airport partners. Everyday, airports are utilizing their own recycling programs while assisting airlines in recycling in-flight waste.  Whether placing garbage recycling receptacles throughout the airport or coordinating with airport tenants to encourage recycling participation, airports are making a difference.  Just recently, SEA introduced a new program that coordinates and collects airplane recyclables. Hoping to achieve a 50% reduction in airport waste by 2014, the program is expected to reduce landfill waste and save more than $250,000 annually.

Working together, airports and airlines are doing their part to ensure our world remains a better place.