A sustainable balance
Alaska Air Cargo has launched a programme to carry up to 22,670 kg of recyclable waste each year out of Nome, Alaska, supporting clean-up efforts in rural communities and saving valuable local water resources.
The recyclables, electronic waste items left over from used consumer goods, are collected from around the Seward Peninsula Bering Strait region and packed onto pallets by employees of the Native nonprofit corporation Kawerak.
The pallets of recyclables fly to Anchorage (and further to Seattle) regularly during the spring-fall seasons, replacing pallets of water that are used by air cargo services around the world as ballast when their aircraft drops off cargo and flies back empty. That said, Alaska Airlines' aircraft carry much more cargo into Nome and other regions than they carry out. (ah)