SYRACUSE, New York — Earlier this year the Syracuse Regional Airport Authority (SRAA) in partnership with Aeromag, which selected Burns & McDonnell to provide design-build services, broke ground on a new glycol recycling facility at Syracuse Hancock International Airport (SYR). A significant project milestone was recently met when Aeromag, the owner and operator of the facility, began operating the world’s first on-airport glycol recycling evaporator capable of treating spent deicing fluid as low as 0.25% glycol to water.

“It is exciting to see this project take its first steps to begin processing stormwater and producing viable deicing fluid right on airport,” says Jason Terreri, SRAA executive director. “The environmental sustainability of reusing glycol on airport is an excellent example of our regional responsibility efforts.”

The low content evaporator is now processing 60,000 gallons of stormwater a day, separating glycol from water so it can be stored and later further treated on-site. While it has been used in other solvent recycling systems, this is the first evaporator in the world to concentrate spent deicing fluid below 1% efficiently and at such a scale.

“Aeromag prides itself on being a leader in deicing and environmental innovation,” says Mario Lépine, Aeromag president. “This facility is a great example of that, and we are proud to have worked with our partners to reach this amazing milestone.” 

When the full glycol recycling facility is completed later this year, it will be capable of recycling up to 500,000 gallons of Type I Deicing Fluid at the airport with cost savings for the airlines operating at SYR. It will also result in 5-7 million gallons of clean water that can be either reused onsite or discharged to a sanitary sewer system for safe release to the environment.

“Our goal is to be the premier engineering and construction company when it comes to winter operations at an airport,” says Skye Coleman, glycol and ramp services manager for Burns & McDonnell. “We are thrilled that Aeromag and SRAA trusted Burns & McDonnell with this unique opportunity.”

About Burns & McDonnell

Burns & McDonnell is a family of companies bringing together an unmatched team of more than 13,500 engineers, construction and craft professionals, architects, planners, technologists and scientists to design and build our critical infrastructure. With an integrated construction and design mindset, we offer full-service capabilities. Founded in 1898 and working from 70 offices globally, Burns & McDonnell is 100% employee-owned. Learn how we are designed to build.

About Aeromag

Aeromag is a privately owned company based in Montreal, specialized in aircraft deicing, deicing center management and recycling of used deicing products. The company has over 1,500 employees in 16 locations around the world. To learn more about Aeromag, please visit aeromag2000.com.

To learn more about the 28 destinations served by nonstop flights from SYR, please visit the airport’s Destinations Page.