When you think of the climate impact of air travel, you might think first about aircraft emissions and plastic waste from in-flight food and drink service. But that impact starts long before you board your flight. Millions of people hurry through terminals every year buying food, leaving leftovers and producing all manners of trash.
Some airports have been cleaning up their act. Some are rolling out programs that divert food waste from landfills and distribute unsold food items to those in need. Others are opting for sustainable plates and cutlery over plastics -- or even eliminating plastic altogether.
Here are a few airports that are making the wait for your flight a more sustainable experience.
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Food waste is the country's most common material in landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. As part of its goal to become the world's first airport to attain zero carbon emissions and zero waste going into landfills, San Francisco International created SFO Unites Against Hunger, a program through which the 104 food and drink vendors can enroll to donate excess food or products that are near their sell-by date. The unsold food is donated to Bay Area organizations that distribute it to food-insecure locals. After operating for two years, it's paused but is on target to restart this year.
To reach its ambitious goal, SFO also instituted a ban on plastics in 2022, so drinks are sold in glass or aluminum; refill stations offer cold, hot and ambient-temperature water; and food vendors have moved to fiber-based plates and cutlery.
While some passengers sprint through terminals, there are plenty of travelers who arrive early enough to take in a meal before they board. Yet "for here or to go?" is rarely an option at quick-service food businesses in airports.
The Portland International Airport is putting an end to that with its Green Plate Program, which rolls out this summer at eateries before and after security gates in Concourse C. Each vendor receives customized dishware made of a thick, chip-resistant plastic. They're size and shape are customized for individual vendors, and match different brand colors. The dishes are returned and cleaned in a central dishwashing space. Two additional washing rooms are under construction. Once completed, the program will be instituted airport-wide.
No stranger to ambitious waste-reduction initiatives, PDX started collecting food scraps for composting in 2003. A food-donation program was established in 2013 in partnership with Portland nonprofit Urban Gleaners to provide surplus food from the airport's restaurants and shops to Oregonians in need.
With all the stress and anxiety around air travel, it's little surprise that smokers light up before rushing into the terminal to catch a flight. Many also smoke the moment they get outside after arriving.
"Airports are a breeding ground for cigarette litter," says Ernie Simpson, global vice president and chief scientist at TerraCycle, a company that develops and operates innovative recycling programs for materials that are notoriously hard to reprocess. He developed a process for recycling cigarettes butts.
They're largely composed of the filter, which contains cellulose acetate, the same fireproof material used to make buttons and eyeglasses frames. Once recycled, the fireproof plastic can be used to manufacture outdoor furniture, shipping pallets and tool handles.
"What we know now is it's not just an aesthetic problem, it's environmental," Simpson says, noting that cigarette waste ends up in storm drains, runoff, beaches, tides and all kinds of waterways.
Newark Liberty International Airport is expected to start the recycling program this summer, adding to eight other participating airports in Utah, Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, California and Michigan.
Terminal 3 at Changi is the opposite of every glum, bland airport terminal you've schlepped through.
Its Butterfly Garden features over 1,000 species. Its Crystal Garden features 12 huge glass dandelions. Natural light streams in through 900 skylights while keeping the tropical heat out.
But the real showpiece here is the lush green wall, a natural balm for weary travelers fresh off of long-haul flights in stuffy aircraft. A horticultural fever dream, the dense vertical arrangement of largely South Asian and Southeast Asian tropical plants filters toxins in the air and emits a jolt of oxygen, while also absorbing sound.
As an added benefit, says Ashraf Ali, senior manager of Changi's Airport Operations Services, nature is a proven stress-reducer, so you can start your relaxing trip the moment you arrive.
When you make your way to your gate in Terminal B at Denver International Airport, you'll have to weave your way around the familiar foot traffic, the carts ferrying people with disabilities and the bin-pushing members of Scraps, a service that collects food scraps and organic waste for composting from 30 concession businesses.
The airport's Zero Waste Valet program launched in May 2024 in Terminal B and has a planned airport-wide rollout over the next few years. Collecting compost from individual businesses multiple times a day may seem labor-intensive, but with so many businesses involved and security clearances to content with, it's a streamlined way to divert waste.