SAN DIEGO – January 28, 2016 – The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) awarded the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority with a 2015 Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA), considered one of California’s highest environmental honors.

The award was presented to the Airport Authority during a special reception on January 19. 

The Airport Authority earned the award in the “Waste Reduction” category, which honors “exemplary achievements in conserving and protecting natural resources and reducing costs by incorporating efforts such as waste prevention, reuse, recycling, composting, environmentally-preferable purchasing, and product design and stewardship,” according to CalEPA.

The award specifically recognized San Diego International Airport’s food waste collection program, Air Conditioning condensate water recovery and recycling initiative, and the airport’s Environmentally Preferred Product purchasing program.

“Finding innovative ways to operate San Diego International Airport in a sustainable and efficient way is truly at the heart of our business,” said Thella F. Bowens, the Airport Authority’s President and CEO.  “We’re incredibly honored to receive this recognition and to join others throughout California in planning for the future in an environmentally conscious manner.”

The Airport Authority was one of 12 award recipients, which also included the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation in San Diego County, and the City of Anaheim.

More information on the GEELA program is available at www.calepa.ca.gov/Awards/GEELA.

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