Centerlines - March 2009 - (Page 29) ENVIRONMENT Ten 5-foot-by-8-foot posters at Mineta San José International Airport help model recycling behavior. manager. The airport recycles 125 tons a year, excluding recycled construction debris. The San José airport started a formal recycling program in 2005, yet it has taken Environmental Coordinator Susan Hiestand’s hands-on attention to boost the recycling rates. “The deputy director of facilities and engineering wanted a more proactive program and was able to create this job position to increase recycling,” Hiestand said. She has made the program more user-friendly through outreach to tenants and a poster campaign. At the airport, there are now 70 recycling receptacles. Hiestand standardized the San José waste collection areas to make participation easier, and is using simple but effective techniques to ma make recycling more of a reflex. For example, she ref changed bin bags for recych clables to clear plastic to cla differentiate them from the dif green trash bags, which gr prompts custodians to put pr them in the recycle bins. th Recycling receptacles in R the terminal are also more th clearly labeled. c Last September Nashville distributed 10 N 44-gallon blue trash cans 4 to all of the kitchens and 90 desk-side bins to all airport authority offices. Such steps seem obvious, but it is remarkable how the success of many recycling programs rely on practical steps such as hardware. It is wise to target the easy pickings first. Nashville began with paper and progressed from there. Of the many things it now recycles, cardboard is still its biggest success. Education Is The Key “The biggest challenge in getting travelers to recycle is that they have so many other things on their minds,” said Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s Stacy Fox, the surface waste manager. “Our advertising company has developed an advertising diorama over the recycling receptacles to draw their attention to the recycling options.” At source though, recycling programs need to be well designed and backed by a strong commitment from airport bosses. “You need upper management support. We have tremendous support here,” Fox said. The Tucson Airport Authority began by recycling white paper and www.aci-na.org | CENTERLINES WHAT is DOING? ACI-NA The survey results provide a resource for airports in promoting the industry’s environmental leadership. • Assisting ACI-NA member airports to meet a goal of implementing a basic recycling program by 2011 and to have at least half of airports with more extensive recycling programs by 2014. • Provided input to the Environmental Protection Agency on the development of a guidebook to assist airports in establishing a recycling program. • Publishing its second Going Green booklet of airport case studies in environmental management. • Conducted a benchmarking survey in 2008 to document the environmental initiatives and practices in place at member airports, including recycling and waste management practices. 29 http://www.aci-na.org
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