Business
Business

Hartsfield-Jackson’s green dreams meet reality

Liza Milagro, the airport’s senior sustainability leader, at the site of the future Green Acres airport composting and recycling facility. The project has been on the drawing board for years but has been slowed by contracting issues. BOB ANDRES /BANDRES@AJC.COM

Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi

Credit: Kelly Yamanouchi

Liza Milagro, the airport’s senior sustainability leader, at the site of the future Green Acres airport composting and recycling facility. The project has been on the drawing board for years but has been slowed by contracting issues. BOB ANDRES /BANDRES@AJC.COM
By
Oct 28, 2016

Officials at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for years have pursued an unusual goal: To build a first-of-its-kind recycling and composting facility on airport grounds.

It’s the linchpin in a lofty ambition: To make the world’s busiest airport — home to tens of thousands of cars and shuttles and thousands of jet aircraft taking off and landing daily — also a leading “green” airport.

“I want Hartsfeld-Jackson to be one of the most sustainable airports in America,” Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said of the city-run airport.

Finding a business to take on the project, dubbed Green Acres ATL Energy Park, has turned into a case of good intentions flying headlong into reality, however.

Read more about the Green Acres project -- and the challenges it faces -- on MyAJC.com.

About the Author

As business team lead, Kelly Yamanouchi edits and writes business stories. She graduated from Harvard and has a master's degree from Northwestern.

Follow Kelly Yamanouchi on facebookFollow Kelly Yamanouchi on twitter
More Stories

Keep Reading

Long lines at the Frontier Airlines ticketing counter back up into the walkway at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Friday, November 21, 2025 (Ben Hendren for the AJC)

Credit: Ben Hendren

Live airport security wait times and today’s trends

The AJC gathers real-time wait-time data from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport to show what security lines look like right now.

41m ago

Microsoft’s newest AI ‘superfactory’ opens at sprawling Fayetteville campus

One of the largest data center campuses under construction in Georgia has its first operational tenant, and it’s one of the most recognizable names in technology.

In the market for a luxury vehicle? You might reconsider Lincoln.

The definition of “luxury” has shifted. It’s no longer just a softer ride with more chrome and gadgets; the real battle now is over experience. Lincoln is leaning in.

The Latest

The 2025 Navigator is the flagship vehicle of the Lincoln brand. (Tyler Gourley/Lincoln/TNS)

Credit: TNS

In the market for a luxury vehicle? You might reconsider Lincoln.

Beyond the odometer: What matters most in a used car

Why your car’s safety tech needs maintenance, too

Featured

Tracy Woodard from InTown Cares (left) and Lauren Hopper from Mercy Care organization work with residents at the Copperton Street encampment in August 2024. (Miguel Martinez / AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez

‘Worst nightmares come true.’ Atlanta confronts shift in homelessness funding.

Trump’s overhaul threatens permanent housing for an estimated 600 Atlanta households and 170,000 people nationwide, advocates warn.

Microsoft’s newest AI ‘superfactory’ opens at sprawling Fayetteville campus

One of the largest data center campuses under construction in Georgia has its first operational tenant, and it’s one of the most recognizable names in technology.

Atlanta officials quietly rebrand city’s DEI office

The city of Atlanta office overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion is getting a rebrand amid assaults at the federal level on such initiatives.