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The new regulations, effective August 20th, will apply to all restaurants, coffee shops, and vending machines at San Francisco Airport, except on flights and for flavored drinks. San Francisco Airport management has installed 100 water dispensers so customers can refill their metal bottles or glass cups as needed. This is part of a five-year plan to reduce waste, carbon emissions, and energy consumption to zero.
San Francisco International Airport is also a pioneer in "green living" initiatives such as installing solar power systems and guiding airport business owners to use biodegradable food containers, including straws and trays. Around the world, airports in the UAE and India have also announced similar plans to ban plastic bottles, but implementation has not been thorough.
Previously, in 2014, the city of San Francisco banned the sale of plastic water bottles at public locations but allowed some locations to defer or be exempt from the regulation. Currently, the global plastics industry is growing rapidly and has reached an output of 400 million tons per year. However, single-use plastics account for 70% of plastic waste, polluting the oceans daily.
According to American scientists, every year, millions of birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals are harmed or die from becoming trapped in plastic waste or ingesting it.
