The Seattle Times: Food vendors at Sea-Tac pitching in with leftovers

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ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Otto Wieland, a volunteer with the Des Moines Food Bank, loads boxes of food donated by vendors at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport into his van.

ELLEN M. BANNER / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Otto Wieland, a Des Moines Food Bank volunteer, transports boxes of pre-packaged sandwiches and salads donated by vendors at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

When Doug Holbrook first pitched the idea, it fell kind of flat. The vendors at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport looked at him funny.

At least that's how Holbrook, the airport's manager of business and utilities, remembers it. They all had a question:

He wanted them to recycle their coffee grounds. The original goal was to send two tons of coffee grounds to a compost station every month. Three years later, Sea-Tac recycles 10 to 12 tons of coffee grounds a month.

It's all part of the airport's growing environmental focus, from powering its auto fleet with compressed natural gas to sending old airplane fuel tanks to the Olympic National Forest, where they are used to fight fires.

The latest addition is a food-donation program, through which vendors give leftover pre-packaged sandwiches and salads to a South King County food bank.

Steven Howards, director of Clean Airport Partnership, a Colorado-based nonprofit that works with government agencies and airports, described Sea-Tac as the "poster child" for good environmental practices.

Sea-Tac recycling

Estimated totals of select materials for 2006

Coffee grounds: 120 tons

Glass: 120 tons

Fryer grease: 12,000 gallons (to be made into biodiesel)

Scrap metal: 100 tons

Alkaline batteries: 1 ton

Motor oil: 3,355 gallons

Antifreeze: 1,365 gallons

Light bulbs: 18,400

Sources: Port of Seattle, Clean Airport Partnership

"I think everybody wants to do the right thing," said Howards, who is assessing Sea-Tac's program at the airport's request. "But whether they're walking the talk is quite a different issue."

There are other innovators. Portland International Airport is working with a local university to develop biodegradable bags for the coffee grounds it recycles. Oakland (Calif.) International Airport sends used airplane pillows for recycling as insulation in furniture.

Good environmental practices do not always pay big. Sea-Tac went from recycling 112 tons of material five years ago to an estimated 1,200 tons this year � everything from contaminated soil to motor oil. And yet this year's materials are expected to bring in only $40,000, while saving about $130,000 in disposal fees.

The effort represents a long-term investment, airport officials say. Recycling fryer grease into biodiesel, for example, helps to build a fuel alternative for the future. And it sends a message, in an area with strong environmental values, that the airport is a good neighbor.

Phil Ralston, manager of environmental safety for Portland International Airport, said, "There's an expectation in this society that we improve our environmental performance continuously. It's about keeping that license to operate from the community."

It makes good, practical sense for vendors to recycle: Sea-Tac charges a $5 fee every time vendors use the garbage compactor, but recycling is free. Some of the larger vendors are saving thousands of dollars a month by recycling, Holbrook said. As a result, recycled materials now represent about a quarter of the airport's solid-waste stream.

In the future, the airport hopes to send food scraps from restaurants and flight kitchens to a compost station, as Portland International Airport has done.

But for now, Sea-Tac is working with seven vendors, who set aside prepackaged salads, sandwiches and pastries left over from their stock to give to the Des Moines Area Food Bank. It started with about 250 pounds in July and has grown to about 500 pounds of prepackaged food a week.

Barb Shimizu, the food bank's assistant director, said the airport offerings represent only a fraction of what is available to clients. But grocery-store donations often are canned food, which takes time and energy and facilities to cook. Prepared items are a good alternative for some people.

Early Friday, the line for the food bank snaked down the hall of the basement in the Des Moines United Methodist Church. Robert Kennedy, 52, peered over his glasses at the boxes of food, looking for basics that would last him a month. His 11-year-old daughter stood beside him.

In the airport box, they found that day's lunch: a Thai chicken salad for him, an Italian sandwich for her. The kind of thing he could bring to work, and she could bring to school. It was a surprise to hear that it came from the airport.

The airport is trying to recruit more vendors. Right now, the participating vendors range from Hudson News to Ivar's to Ken's Baggage, which donates luggage that customers leave in storage too long.

Recently, Shimuzu gave one of the rolling suitcases to a homeless man, who used it to transport more food than he otherwise could have taken. He looked at her, disbelieving.