Plastic water bottles prohibited from San Francisco airport
In an effort to make SFO more environmentally friendly, the airport is adding plastic bottles to its list of limited food serving products from August 20.
"This is a big move for the airport," said Doug Yakel, SFO's public information officer. "It just supports our green initiative."
The new practice prevents airport suppliers and tenants from selling or supplying free bottled water in plastic. This includes all similar products sold in vending machines.
Instead of plastic bottles, suppliers will be able to sell or procure reusable recyclable aluminum, glass and certified compostable water bottles, according to the airport.
Travelers can bring empty disposable bottles to water. However, airport security does not allow passengers to bring filled bottles of water from outside.
SFO defines a bottle of water as drinking water in a sealed box, bag, box, bottle or other container intended primarily for single use and with a capacity of 1[ads1] liter or less. This includes purified water, mineral water, carbonated or sparkling water and electrolyte-enhanced water.
The ban does not apply to any flavored beverage such as soda, iced tea or coffee and juice.
Yakel said SFO has over 100 refillable water hydration stations for travelers who bring their own reusable water bottles, and it will add more.
In March, SFO also moved away from disposable articles and plastic food supplies.
Yakel said he knows that other airports want to do the same to eliminate bottled water, but as far as he knows, his is the first to take this initiative.
The ban is just one of the things that makes SFO unique. The airport is also one of the few with a free yoga room for travelers to use at leisure.
