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other recycled items such as scrap metal , oil , filters , tires , antifreeze , and glycol , our total recycled rates ranged from 20 – 25 % ( by weight ). As an example , in 2019 , we recycled nearly 1,500 tons of this universal waste , metal and other items at Dulles International , the composition of which can be seen in Table 7 .

Our largest airline partner at Dulles International is United Airlines . In 2019 , United accounted for approximately 2 / 3 of our passenger traffic . While United uses the Authority ’ s bins for MSW and recycling , they independently handle universal waste and other items and report their totals to us . In 2019 , United recycled 367 tons of material , the breakdown of which is shown in Table 8 . ³⁵

Table 8 : United Airlines Waste Recycling at Dulles International ( 2019 )

As a result of a concessionaire focus group meeting held at Reagan National , it was clear that training and availability of appropriate resources are areas we can quickly improve .

Table 7 : Dulles International Universal Waste , Metal and Other ( 2019 )

Many of our food and beverage concessionaires do not have access to recycling bins due to space constraints in their establishments . We were told that often the garbage bin is much closer than the recycling bin and so everything gets thrown into the garbage . In addition , in some situations , recycling bins can be locked to prevent contamination by people throwing nonrecyclables into the bin while also restricting those wishing to recycle .

However , this absence of recycling bins in many instances is not necessarily deterring the desire to recycle by our concessionaires . For example , cardboard is recycled and both cooking oil and grease are kept out of the waste stream . At Reagan National , in 2019 , 166 tons of cardboard was recycled — a twofold increase from 2017 . In addition , 113 tons of cooking oil was hauled away by one of our service companies and sold to oil companies to make biodiesel fuel . In return , our concessionaires received a credit on their waste hauling bill . Finally , grease traps are used to keep grease out of our drains , and collected grease is then recycled . 33 tons of such grease was recycled in 2019 alone . Our goal is to continue to partner with our concessionaires on these activities and more , so that we can drive our recycling rates higher over time .

In addition to low recycling rates , the problem of contaminated recycling is also an issue at our airports . Unfortunately , while easy for the customer , comingled recycling results in significant contamination of our recyclable materials . For example , broken glass can contaminate an entire load of recyclables and wet newspapers from half-emptied water bottles are much more difficult to recycle than dry ones .

³⁵ MSW from international flights is treated separately from domestic MSW and is not included in any of United ’ s figures listed here .

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