Business
Business

Hartsfield-Jackson’s green dreams meet reality

Liza Milagro, the airport’s senior sustainability leader, at the site of the future Green Acres airport composting and recycling facility. The project has been on the drawing board for years but has been slowed by contracting issues. BOB ANDRES /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi

Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi

Liza Milagro, the airport’s senior sustainability leader, at the site of the future Green Acres airport composting and recycling facility. The project has been on the drawing board for years but has been slowed by contracting issues. BOB ANDRES /BANDRES@AJC.COM
By
Oct 28, 2016

Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for years have pursued an unusual goal: To build a first-of-its-kind recycling and composting facility on airport grounds.

It’s the linchpin in a lofty ambition: To make the world’s busiest airport — home to tens of thousands of cars and shuttles and thousands of jet aircraft taking off and landing daily — also a leading “green” airport.

“I want Hartsfeld-Jackson to be one of the most sustainable airports in America,” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said of the city-run airport.

Finding a business to take on the project, dubbed Green Acres ATL Energy Park, has turned into a case of good intentions flying headlong into reality, however.

Read more about the Green Acres project -- and the challenges it faces -- on MyAJC.com.

About the Author

As business team lead, Kelly Yamanouchi edits and writes business stories. She graduated from Harvard and has a master's degree from Northwestern.

Follow Kelly Yamanouchi on facebookFollow Kelly Yamanouchi on twitter
More Stories

Keep Reading

Postcard depicting the predecessor to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: Candler Field, c. 1927. The city signed a lease with Asa Candler to open the airfield in 1925. (Kenan Research Center at the Atlanta History Center)

The world’s busiest airport: A 100-year journey

The story of Hartsfield-Jackson, the city’s most famous landmark, is emblematic of Atlanta's signature boosterism: aiming high without letting the odds get in the way.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Delta turns 100: It all started with the boll weevil

Delta has grown from a crop duster to Atlanta’s largest private employer and the nation’s most profitable airline.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Two centennials, one story: Delta and the Atlanta airport

Delta Air Lines and Hartsfield-Jackson both turn 100 this year, and you can’t tell the story of one without the other.

The Latest

Unsold 2025 Gladiator pickup trucks sit on display outside a Jeep dealership Friday, Sept. 26, 2025, in Englewood, Colo. (David Zalubowski/AP)

Credit: AP

OPINION

December car sales are good but not magic

In the market for a luxury vehicle? You might reconsider Lincoln.

Beyond the odometer: What matters most in a used car

Featured

Managing Partner at Atlantica Properties, Darion Dunn (center) talks with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens during a tour following the ribbon cutting of Waterworks Village as part of the third phase of the city’s Rapid Housing Initiative on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez

Atlanta opens door on first modular rapid-housing for homeless residents

The first-of-its-kind development, Waterworks Village, overlooks the nearby reservoir. It's part of Mayor Andre Dickens' initiative to build 500 units of for the unhoused.

POLITICALLY GEORGIA

Local GOP sees ‘danger’ in a chaotic race to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene

Republican leaders in Georgia's 14th Congressional District worry a crowded field in a special election could give Democrats a chance to win.

MAKING CONNECTIONS

Two centennials, one story: Delta and the Atlanta airport

Delta Air Lines and Hartsfield-Jackson both turn 100 this year, and you can’t tell the story of one without the other.