Los Angeles International Airport announced a ban on single-use plastic water bottle sales inside the airport—one of the largest in the world. The ban is effective immediately and follows the Sustainability Action Plan passed by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), including LAX and Van Nuys Airports, to phase out single-use water bottles and reduce plastic waste.
Officials recommend travelers bring reusable bottles and use the water refill stations located inside the airport terminals. LAX is the second airport in the world to enact such a ban following San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in 2019.
“Moving away from single-use plastic water bottles and towards reusables reduces plastic waste and pollution to help passengers reduce their environmental impact while traveling,” LAWA officials said.
The ban of single-use plastic water bottles includes vending machines sales along with events taking place at the airport. It will not extend to other bottled drinks and will not impact bottled water from flight services on aircrafts, EcoWatch reported.
In 2019, 9 million plastic water bottles were sold at LAX, averaging 24,000 bottles per day, LAWA reported. Justin Erbacci, CEO of LAWA, said this is the first step in making its airports zero waste by 2045, whose sustainability plan also includes net-zero carbon emissions from operations, 100 percent renewable electricity and no drinking water used for non-potable purposes, EcoWatch reported.
“Eliminating single-use plastic water bottles is the right thing to do for our airports, our communities and our environment,” said Erbacci said.
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