San Francisco Airport extends plastic-free policy to tackle use of plastic bottles

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has announced the expansion of its industry-leading plastic-free policy to prohibit the sale of any beverages in plastic bottles.

In August 2019, SFO became the first airport in the world to prohibit the provision or sale of single-use water bottles in plastic or aseptic paper packaging. This policy has now been expanded to prohibit the sale of any beverages – including sodas, teas and juices – in plastic or aseptic paper packaging.

“This is a significant moment in our goal to achieve zero waste going into landfill,” said San Francisco Airport’s Director, Ivar C. Satero. “We took a very important first step two years ago, and today we take the next step towards a plastic-free future. Throughout this journey, it has been our SFO business community which ensures our success, and we thank our partners for having the courage to be leaders in our industry.”

In 2016, SFO established a goal to achieve zero waste going to landfill. To achieve this goal, the airport has been working with concessions and tenants on supporting policies, including a requirement to provide single-use foodware in compostable packaging.

Based upon waste characterisation studies, 33 per cent of the items sent to landfill from SFO are food or food service ware and beverage containers. In August 2019, SFO implemented a Zero Waste Concessions Policy to prohibit the sale of water in plastic bottles or aseptic paper packaging.

At the time, approximately 10,000 bottles of water were being sold at SFO every day. This expanded programme further avoids the energy-intensive production and diverts one million fossil fuel-based beverage containers a year from landfill.

SFO has provided airport retailers with a guide of approved alternatives to plastic beverage bottles. In addition, the airport has installed 100 hydration stations across the airport to expand access and encourage passengers to bring refillable bottles.