Airport lauded for recycling program

Charleston International Airport set an example for other businesses when it launched a recycling program earlier this month, county leaders said.

Businesses produce about half of the county's trash, which is burned in an incinerator in North Charleston or dumped in a landfill on Bees Ferry Road. Many businesses, however, don't recycle. Unlike private residences, the county doesn't pick up recyclables at businesses.

Sue Stevens, director of airports for the Charleston County Aviation Authority, said the airport made the move "to reduce our impact on the environment."

The airport program, a partnership with Charleston County and the state's Department of Health and Environmental Control, includes recycling bins in the airport's public areas. The county also has placed a large receptacle on the facility's grounds so custodial staff has to transport the recyclables only to that drop site.

County Council voted this past year to close the incinerator at the end of the year and to set a goal to increase recycling from 10 percent to 40 percent of the stream of municipal solid waste.

Reaching that goal will require a commitment from the business community, Councilwoman Colleen Condon said. She also said the county was glad to work with the airport to help develop a program. The county isn't yet ready to handle all businesses that want to recycle, she said. That will take a few years.

For now, she said, "We'll work with folks who are ready to be at the forefront of this effort." The airport is one of those places, she said. It's also important because it "sets the tone for tourists" about the area's commitment to preserve the environment.

Stevens said the airport's efforts will pull a lot of recyclables out of the waste stream. For the past six months, she said, airport offices — the behind-the-scenes area, not the areas that are not public — started to recycle and found they alone produced 10 tons of recyclable material each month.

"We just want to show people that this is a beautiful place to live or visit, and we want to help keep it that way," she said.