The San Francisco International Airport is banning the sale of water in plastic bottles in a bid to go plastic-free and limit the circulation of single-use plastics.
Image: San Francisco International Airport via Facebook
San Francisco has one of the busiest airports in the state of California and the USA, and claims to sell an average of 9,000 water bottles every day.
Launched officially on 20 August, the airport authorities requested that travellers and staff bring their own reusable water bottles. These can be filled up with fresh water at its ‘hydration stations’ located at each of the airport’s five terminals.
Water can still be purchased, however, but will be packaged instead in reusable aluminium, glass or compostable bottles.
In 2018 the airport announced its goal to reach zero-waste status by 2021. This year it introduced a zero-waste programme to reduce quantities of single-use plastics and transition to more sustainable practices. These involve the reusing, recycling and composting of waste materials.
The airport has also approved a selection of bottles, brands and container suitable for re-use.
