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Liquids Surrendered At Airport Security: Is There An Afterlife?
Ever looked at the mountain of liquids (or, in my case, that luscious, unopened jar of dulce de leche, and countless yogurts) accumulated at airport security and wondered where they end up? Yeah, me too. I've always hoped they go to charity and the water bottles recycled, because I have a bit of an idealist streak beneath my jaded exterior.Our friend Andy Bender over at Forbes helped get to the bottom of this tricky question, and the answers are somewhat surprising. Rather than being palmed by greasy-haired or hungry TSA agents (cause for immediate termination), large airports divvy up the booty by category and dispose of it accordingly, although smaller volume airports may just lump it as trash.
If you lie awake nights pondering the fate of your spendy conditioner or lotion, here's the breakdown:
- Liquids are sorted by type (sunscreen, shampoo, alcohol, contact lens solution, etc.) and emptied into hazmat barrels, which are then collected by waste management companies. They're disposed of according to environmental regulations (Forbes reports that "water-based solutions are sent to a waste water treatment facility or waste energy recovery facility aka trash-to-stream plant."
- Alcohol ends up being treated at fuel-blending facilities because it's flammable.
- Large quantities of bottles are "chipped" and recycled, but not smaller volumes, which go to the landfill.
For more information on current regulations taking liquids in carry-on, click here. And here's a tip: by carrying a refillable water bottle, you help reduce the 1.5 million barrels of oil required for U.S. plastic water bottle production each year.
Gallery: Strange items prohibited by the TSA
[Photo credit: Flickr user stevendepolo]
Filed under: Learning, Business, Food and Drink, North America, United States, Airlines, Airports, News, Consumer Activism
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 5)
Charles Jul 12th 2012 11:16PM
I've seen nailclippers, lighters, snowglobes and almost everything else that the TSA takes away at the checkpoints for sale at the bookstores strung amung the concourses and gates. Don't say they're not, because I will take phone pictures next week for proof as we go to pickup the granddaughter.
Jeff Foxworthy tells in a skit about leafblowers and weedeaters being in a display in Atlanta's airport of confiscated items, and who would take them on-board, he asks.
Cin Jul 13th 2012 10:46AM
I worked at a small airport for a major airline in 02 and all the restrictions were changing on a daily basis. All the things that were confiscated were put into a big box and they supposedly were taken to be destroyed at the end of the night, But not before most employees would rummage through and get to pick what we wanted to take out. Sometimes there was good stuff there to like MAC products and expensive creams.
sandy Jul 13th 2012 12:18AM
things like sissors and tweezers are given to tsa employees and are ending up in garage sales I have seen them there lst hand I was mad as Hell about it
David Jul 13th 2012 12:28AM
I forgot to pack my finger nail clippers in my luggage on two occasions. They are the Little General model by Bassett, and I have had them about 40 years. Unfortunately, they are accompanied by a knife blade, so TSA won't allow me to carry them in my pocket. At TSA's suggestion, I was allowed to mail them to myself from Indianapolis and Phoenix, so I still have them. I appreciated the help from TSA.
Haz mat guy Jul 15th 2012 10:26PM
I don't know how legal this is so I won't say what city or State I work in but my job involves working with Hazardous materials and emergency response. Every year or so one of the guys I work with will show up with a bucket of knives he got from TSA. They give them to firefighters and Haz-Mat teams and we use them to cut ourselves out of haz-mat suits, scrape gunk off of drums and packages, and eventually contaminate them with whatever we are working with. It is nice to have a free set of extras laying around when we have to discard a contaminated one. It's amazing how many people forget they are carrying a knife in their pocket or gym bag and have to give it up at the TSA checkpoint. I don't feel too bad about taking them because I have forgotten I was carrying one myself when boarding a plane. And for those of you wondering, no it was not used at a haz mat site before it was confiscated.
Mary Jul 13th 2012 1:14AM
Ridiculous! So we are supposed to believe that most of this stuff is placed in hazmat barrels and disposed of according to environmental regulations by waste management companies. Well, we all know how that's working for us! And, we all know how trustworthy some of these companies and corporations are now days. How about those water-based liquids ending up in our streams and water supplies? Do you believe you are truly being protected this way?
ls Jul 13th 2012 3:12AM
I worked at a large international airport, in a vendor capacity, after 9/11. Of course, everything was being thrown into large bins by passengers as they approached security. I witnessed on several occassions TSA agents reaching into bins and removing items; even seeing one place several items into their pockets. I guess the best thing I saw was a lady, who obviously had ignored the rules, and had to throw out a very expensive bottle of perfume. She took the bottle, and threw it as hard as she could, into the bin breaking it. She said..."if I can't have it, you idiots aren't either." Have to admit, I smiled a little, but the smell in that part of the airport was terrible for remainder of the day.
Charile Johnson Jul 13th 2012 3:46AM
AS LONG US AMERICANS CONTINUE TO DISPLAY THIS ONGOING INABILITY TO BE OUTRAGED AT THE TSA HARASSMENT AT THE AIRPORTS - IT'LL ONLY GET WORSE, as these overglorified security jackalls need to be inventing "new things" all the time, to keep themselves from being bored and falling asleep - and I say;
Hand everyone a loaded gun at the boarding gate, that they need to return when disembarking - and there will be "Peace In The Skies" GUARNATEED - not to mention that we can now send the TSA Security folk back to their old jobs at 7 Eleven & save ourselves from further INSULT & INJURY !!!
In Isreal, at the age of 13, every child is issued an M-16 Military Rifle, (as part of the the Isreali Peace Plan that keeps at bay their enemies) and NOT A SINGLE PUPIL ON PUPIL SCHOOL SHOOTING THERE !
I rest my case.
Mike Jul 13th 2012 7:40AM
Why do people blame the government for their own stupidity and ignorance? The rules are well known and are in place for very good reasons. If your stupid enough to break them, then you deserve to loose whatever it is that you are not supposed to have with you. DUH!!! Isn't it bad enought that these idiots slow down security and flights costing us all millions each year? That all adds to everyone else's plane ticket costs. Do we really need to further coddle and slow down the process by stopping to process what they are not supposed to bring in the first place? Nuff said.
Maddie Jul 24th 2012 4:01PM
I hate the TSA. I fly frequently for business and they are the rudest,. most incompetent, obnoxious bunch of nitwits I've ever seen. Millions of dollars would be saved if they dismantled the TSA immediately. We have to go through government sanctioned molestation. Then if you don't want to deal with that, then you have to be zapped by radiation going through the body scanners. I'm just waiting for the real health hazards to come out in a few years regarding those. It's awful to fly now and there isn't really any actual evidence that we're safer. You have babies on the terrorist watch list...yep, that's real reassuring. I long for the days when you could just check in, have your family and friends wait with you at the gate and chill. Now, it's stress the moment you drive into the airport and it goes downhill from there.