There are 290 trash cans and 34 recycling bins in the terminal building at Tulsa International Airport, each carefully plotted on color-coded drawings, along with trash bins in restrooms to handle the 1,000 miles of paper towels used each year.
The details are part of the 73-page recycling section of a draft master plan prepared by Mead & Hunt, a Middleton, Wisconsin-based consulting firm, for the Tulsa Airports Improvement Trust at a cost of $828,300 with a 90 percent grant from the Federal Aviation Administration.
The 20-year plan runs through 2034 and is mostly based on 2014 data. It predicts 890 tons of waste will be generated in an average year, of which about 3 percent will be recycled and 21 percent will go into landfills, with the remaining 75 percent sent to energy-from-waste sites.
During the data-gathering period, the plan noted that reconstruction of the airport鈥檚 10,000-foot main runway resulted in the removal of 170,000 tons of concrete that was turned into aggregate for reuse.
The plans made some suggestions on how to handle restricted items the Transportation Security Administration finds when boarding passengers go through the security checkpoint at Tulsa International. Passengers can pack the item in a checked bag, give it to non-traveling family member or throw it away.
By law TSA cannot retain any of these items, the plan said. If found in carry-on luggage it may require additional screening, which takes longer and can interrupt the flow of people through the checkpoint.
Among the restricted items that create problems are bottled or canned beverages including water; larger-than-travel-size toothpaste, shampoo and/or conditioner (larger than 3 ounces); sunscreen; aloe gel; peanut butter; yogurt; applesauce, and maple syrup.
For restricted items that are unopened 鈥� food, beverages and toiletries 鈥� the consulting firm recommended airport officials donate them to charity.
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