To address the impacts of waste management and associated greenhouse gas emissions, U.S. airports and their partners strive to reduce waste generation and increase landfill diversion of materials generated in their passenger terminals.  Airport recycling programs are challenged by issues of contamination of recycling streams by non-recyclable items, so the success of these endeavors requires efforts to foster behaviors that result in increased capture and decreased contamination.  A key element to this success is addressing barriers to recycling participation by passengers, custodial service providers, concessionaires, and others.  Traditional efforts have focused on education, yet the success of these approaches has been limited.  A large body of research suggests other methods (e.g., community-based social marketing) may offer more effective results.

The objectives of this research are to assess the current state of airport terminal waste recycling programs and to identify and test recommended strategies to increase recycling of airport terminal waste based on local conditions.