A Winnebago company has been picked to develop a recycling and composting facility at the world’s busiest airport in Atlanta.
Green Energy and Development Inc. was one of six firms to compete for the contract.
Bob Weerts, president and owner/operator of Green Energy, says the project has been in the works for a long time and that he’s bid on it three different times.
“I’m excited, but cautiously optimistic,” says Weerts. “It isn’t final until the council approves it. I’ve been there before.”
Weerts says airport officials will ask the Atlanta City Council on Nov. 6 to approve a 30-year lease with Green Energy, with two five-year renewal options.
The 30-acre project is part of Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s initiative to make Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport environmentally friendly.
It’s expected to be the first fully enclosed recycling and composting facility at an airport and is anticipated to be operating in early 2019.
Under the contract, Green Energy would pay up to $215,883 a year in rent for the site located on the south side of the airport in Clayton County.
Since 2012, only about 5 percent of waste generated at Atlanta airport’s terminals and concourses has been recycled, even though 85 percent of the waste stream is recyclable or compostable.
In addition to recycling waste generated at the airport, officials want to compost chipped yard trimmings from the city’s public works department.