Recovering International Recyclables from In-flight Service

Specifications include, but are not limited to: The objective of this research is to prepare a primer for airport industry practitioners that describes current practice regarding recovering recyclables from flights arriving from international destinations. The primer should include, at a minimum: A discussion of why airports and their stakeholders are focusing on recycling material from arriving international flights; An overview of how current U.S. policies and regulations concerning the handling of international waste from in­flight service were developed, including the research upon which they are based (e.g., pest risk analysis or pathway analysis), and how they are currently applied; A review of non­U.S. recycling laws and practices relative to recovering waste from arriving international flights, including considerations for potential applicability in the U.S.; A description and flow chart of arriving international waste from the aircraft to its final disposition (i.e., incineration, sterilization, grinding); A discussion of potential current, near­term, and long­range recycling challenges and opportunities (including specific materials that could be salvaged); A discussion of potential costs, cost savings, and/or opportunities for revenue generation from the recycling of international in­flight solid waste; Guidance for airports to partner with stakeholders to maximize the recycling of international waste; A discussion of U.S. laws affecting opportunities for recovering recyclables from international in­flight service; and U.S. and non­U.S. case study examples.