COLUMBIA - You can recycle at home, work and now on the go at the Greenville-Spartanburg (GSP) International Airport as the 1.5 million annual visitors can recycle newspapers, magazines, bottles and cans in 33 bins placed at the airport, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control announced today.
“We encourage people to recycle at home and at work,” said DHEC Commissioner Earl Hunter. “This is the next step; offering recycling opportunities while people are on the go.
“Airports provide a terrific opportunity to recycle,” Hunter said. “Passengers spend more time in airports than ever before with increased security and that results in the buying of more beverages, newspapers and magazines. Recycling will conserve natural resources and energy as well as will help airports cut operating expenses by avoiding some waste disposal costs.”
Hunter said GSP has placed the new recycling bins both indoors and outdoors in high-traffic areas such as the gates and security checkpoints as well as parking garages to make it convenient for passengers to recycle. In addition to this new program for visitors, the airport also will expand its internal recycling program.
The Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport joins the Columbia Metropolitan Airport, which this past October became one of the first airports in the Southeast to offer a comprehensive recycling program for its visitors.
The development of the recycling programs is part of a unique partnership between DHEC and airports. DHEC’s Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling, through its S.C. Smart Business Recycling Program, supports the airport recycling programs with technical assistance including help in finding markets for the recyclables and promoting the efforts.