Date: January 31, 2012
Wichita Mid-Continent Airport was a recipient of the 2012 Clean Air and Sustainability Award during the annual Kansas Preservation, Energy and Sustainability Conference and Fair at Century II, held on January 27, 2012.
In 2008, the Mid-Continent Airport Custodial Division began recycling paper, plastic, and cardboard, collecting 52 tons in the first year alone. In 2009, the first official Green Team, comprised of participants from airlines, car rentals, aircraft manufacturers, aviation businesses, and the Department of Homeland Security TSA, initiated an education program about the aviation industry’s role in decreasing the community’s carbon footprint.
The airport recycles a variety of materials, including:
- Corrugated cardboard
- Cooking oil
- Paper
- Newsprint/Magazines/Books
- Plastics
- Clothes
- Toner cartridges
- Tree limbs/brush/wood chips
- Sand – used on the airfield during snow and ice removal which is collected and reused as fill sand for construction projects
- Glycol (deicing) – keeps the excess fluid out of the airport storm sewer system and eventually out of the Arkansas River
- Motor oil – Our Airfield Maint. Division maintains a fleet of over 200 vehicles; approximately 800 to 1000 gallons per year are collected and recycled.
- Batteries – 25 to 30 automotive batteries are recycled each year
- Tires – about 5,000 pounds per year
- Scrap metal
- Asphalt – Any asphalt removed or replaced in construction projects is recycled into millings for use on the perimeter fence and various road projects.
- Old safety uniforms are recycled – the material is used for rags when cleaning and servicing equipment.
Since May 2008, over 443 tons of materials have been recycled.
