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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.

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