Oil Recycled at Historic Cleveland Hopkins

One of the most historic airports in the United States is now the site of an innovative recycling scheme.

It's being carried out through a partnership set up between Cleveland Hopkins International Airport retailer AIRMALL and Bradford Airport Logistics and involves recycled waste cooking oil.

Specifically, all airport food outlets at Cleveland Hopkins now have their waste cooking oil collected by a fleet of carts. This waste oil is then recycled into biofuel, soap, animal feed and other useful products.

Cooking Oil Recycling

The cooking oil recycling process is environmentally-friendly but, airport executives point out, also positively impactful on food outlet workers, too: with the waste substance gone, so too is the potential for it to be spilt and, therefore, become a health and safety risk.

"We're delighted to see an innovative and environmentally-friendly solution like this", Ricky Smith - Cleveland Hopkins International Airport's director - explained in a statement. "It is an example of how an otherwise time-consuming and cumbersome process can be turned into a practical solution that benefits the environment and our concessions program."

"We have always been at the forefront of adopting innovative ideas and technologies for the airport concessions industry", AIRMALL's vice president, Tina LaForte, added. "Working with Bradford Airport Logistics to implement the new grease recycling program at CLE is another example of how the AIRMALL strives to be a leader in airport concessions operations."

Recycled Cleveland Airport Oil

"This is a win-win program that is good for the City of Cleveland, good for the airport, good for the concessionaires and great for the environment", said Bradford Airport Logistics' CEO, Benjamin Richter on the recycled Cleveland airport oil.

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was established in 1925 and, in later years, hosted a number of US airport firsts, including the nation's first ATC tower and the first lighting system to be installed.

Close to nine-and-a-half million passengers passed through in 2010, with its three runways handling over 192,000 aircraft movements.

Image copyright Kevin Payravi, Wikimedia Commons