Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport had a vision: Build a composting and recycling facility on airport grounds to process airport waste.
They call the project Green Acres. Yet the idea has proven to be far from easy to bring to fruition.
On Wednesday, the Atlanta airport learned it received no valid proposals from companies willing to build and operate the facility. It was another setback in a years-long effort that began back in 2012.
The delay trickles down to other projects, including the airport’s sustainable food court initiative to compost waste from airport concessions.
Airport spokesman Reese McCranie said Hartsfield-Jackson remains committed to Green Acres.
“With anything that is new and groundbreaking, it’s understandable that there may be some amount of trepidation or uncertainty when exploring new ways to be sustainable,” McCranie said. But, “our commitment to this project is steadfast.”
The airport early this year launched its long-awaited contracting process to develop Green Acres. But in April, it decided to cancel the contracting process and restart it, after receiving "a significant amount of questions" about the requirements. The airport said it would clarify and revise its solicitation documents.
Contractors during the process had raised questions about everything from permitting to financial terms to potential environmental remediation needed at the site.
In July, the airport restarted the process, with proposals due Wednesday from companies interested in competing for the contract to build and operate the facility. City and airport officials were expecting to collect a few proposals from competing firms.
As the clock ticked toward the 2 p.m. deadline at Atlanta City Hall, no proposals came in.
One submission from a joint venture of Green Energy & Development and Duckett Design Group arrived about 10 minutes late — too late to be valid under city code.
“We’re very disappointed,” said city contracting officer Mano Smith, adding that he would like to attract at least three competing proposals. “We’re going to have some internal conversations” to determine why companies were not interested in the project, before starting the process for a third time.
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