Trash Landings

Think of the kinds of stuff you throw out on airplanes: soda cans, magazines, newspapers -- all recyclables, right? It may come as a surprise, then, to learn that airport and airline recycling programs fall short of the national recycling rate by more than 30 percent. If they were to improve their programs enough to simply match the nationwide average, the energy saved each year by reusing raw materials would be enough to power 20,000 U.S. households. Fortunately, 75 percent of airport waste is recyclable or compostable, and in its latest report, Trash Landings: How Airlines and Airports Can Clean Up Their Recycling Programs, NRDC offers practical guidance for turning this wasteful industry around. Aluminum and paper recycling programs are obvious priorities, but other opportunities for saving money, energy, and resources abound. For example, at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, managers send coffee grounds to a compost facility, which costs the airport just a quarter of what it would spend if it sent them to a dump. Read the report online at www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/airline/contents.asp.