BWI Marshall Airport is one of the few airports in the country to establish a used cooking oil recycling program to support renewable fuels production.
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Fraport Maryland in partnership with Mahoney Environmental and BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, launched a new, significant, and impactful sustainability project; Solution ZERO – a Zero waste, Zero cost initiative.
BWI Marshall Airport is the 7th major commercial airport in the United States to launch a zero-waste sustainability program that collaborates with partners to collect used cooking oil and convert them into renewable fuels. BWI Marshall Airport is now collecting used cooking oil generated from its 50+ hospitality partners that serve more than 18 million passengers per year, which will then be used as raw materials to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or other renewable products.
In 2020, Fraport engaged Mahoney Environmental, a used cooking oil collection company and subsidiary of the world’s leading producer of renewable fuels, Neste, to conduct an extensive study of used cooking oil recycling for the entire concessions program. Mahoney was brought on as an onsite partner examining the full used cooking oil collection and recycling process. The study included use of equipment, time in motion analytics, and overall efficiency measures.
BWI Marshall Airport has extremely high design and safety standards, which required Mahoney Environmental to customize equipment to create a leading-edge sustainability program. It protects the planet, invests in reusable resources, reduces cost management, and ensures employee safety and security.
“The result was a sustainability program that will revolutionize how used cooking oil collection will operate at BWI Marshall Airport now and for the future” noted Gary Gilliard, Vice President of Fraport Maryland.
“We are excited to be working with another premier US airport. Our used cooking oil collection systems and processes are specifically designed to eliminate safety concerns for restaurant employees who work with hot oils. This new project will also enable BWI Marshall Airport to become more sustainable,” said Dave Kimball, President & CEO of Mahoney Environmental.
Kea features
- Sustainability – ZERO waste; Used cooking oil will be recycled and transported to one of Neste’s refineries to be turned into renewable fuels or other renewable products.
- Cost Management – ZERO cost; Forecasted to make used cooking oil collection and maintenance a zero-cost expense to the concessions program, saving common area maintenance thousands of dollars annually.
- Clean Transport Process – A completely self-contained used cooking oil system, from the interior of the restaurant fryer unit into a travel caddy, transported to a remote storage tank. The use of state-of-the-art equipment enables a completely safe transport process that delivers used cooking oil to a holding tank for safe, efficient, and clean removal off airport property.
- Operation Efficiencies – Less labor handling used cooking oil by staff.
- Safety – Eliminates used cooking oil spills on and around airport property. Removes the risk of fire and other accidents on and around the airfield. Added safety of reduced exposure to staff of hot cooking oils in the unit, during transport, and depositing into the containment units. Meets andexceeds EPA & Federal Standards
“Solution ZERO exemplifies the kind of initiatives that set Fraport apart as an industry leader and innovator. We set the bar very high to maximize airport efficiencies and create a best-in-class passenger experience,” stated Mike Mullaney, President & CEO of Fraport USA.
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