Name: Liza Milagro
Title: Sustainability manager
Company, city: Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; Atlanta, Ga.
Number of employees: 63,000
Recent project: Green Acres ATL Energy Park & Entrepreneurial Center
First job: Sales rep/assistant buyer for my family’s Just Sox store
Little-known fact about you: I am a vermiculturist; our worm colonies eat our vegetative food scraps, paper towels and shredded paper.
Your Business
What innovations/initiatives do you foresee in the industry over the next years? Airports will continue evolving into integrated urban hubs, and many innovations now emerging will become mainstream. Expect wider adoption of sustainable aviation fuels such as bio-jet fuel, energy-harvesting technologies like piezoelectric floor tiles that generate electricity from footsteps, and on-site waste and recycling processing facilities. Buildings will increasingly be designed as multipurpose, net-zero, living structures that support biodiversity. Packaging will be designed for faster degradation in landfills, and infrastructure planning will prioritize circularity and resilience.
What is the best career advice you’ve received? My aunt, Dr. Hortense Simmons, told me, “Be obsessed or be average.” That advice shaped my focus and commitment to doing work that matters.
What advice would you give someone starting out in the field? Treat sustainability as both creative and strategic. Embrace innovation and build enthusiasm for big ideas, but always integrate social and economic impacts into your plans. Collaborate across disciplines to enroll colleagues and partners in a shared vision. Finally, measure everything—clear metrics are essential to communicate progress and to tell a credible sustainability story.
Liza Milagro as a Traveler
Favorite travel memory or story: My earliest solo trips, beginning around age five or six, were to visit family in Miami and the Bahamas. Those experiences—meeting pilots in the cockpit and seeing airline hostesses—sparked a love of tailored style, adventure and the romance of travel. That era of aviation and personal exploration has influenced how I approach journeys ever since.
One travel tip you cannot live without: A reliable Mophie battery pack and a book that lets me turn pages rather than swipe. The combination keeps devices charged and preserves the pleasure of reading during long trips.
Best advice for business travelers: ATL has excellent shoeshine stands—pack an extra pair of shoes and take advantage of a quick shine to look polished and feel refreshed between meetings.
About Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
What is Green Acres ATL Energy Park?
Green Acres ATL Energy Park is a full-stream recycling and processing facility designed to manage a large portion of the airport’s and the city’s waste in a way that maximizes recovery and minimizes landfill disposal. Once operational, the facility will process approximately 22,000 tons of materials from passengers annually, 15,000 tons from cargo, and 20,000 tons of wood chips from City of Atlanta residential yard waste. A 2013 waste audit showed that up to 89 percent of the waste stream could be diverted from landfills, and because nearby composting options are limited, the facility addresses a critical gap by enabling diversion of organic materials from concessionaires and local restaurants. Green Acres organizes and upgrades material streams so they can achieve the highest and best use, and it will serve as an educational and entrepreneurial resource for students, businesses and community leaders looking to replicate a zero-waste approach.
Tell our readers about ATL’s other green initiatives.
ATL’s Sustainable Management Plan targets a 20 percent reduction in emissions, water and energy consumption, and a 90 percent landfill diversion rate. The GreeningATL campaign engages passengers and employees in sustainability efforts across the airport. ATL is switching to LED lighting; incorporating green infrastructure to allow the first inch of rainfall to infiltrate the ground; expanding food recovery programs as part of the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge; and adding electric buses and CNG shuttles to its fleet. The airport is also installing reflective white roofs to reduce heat absorption. In 2016 ATL became the first U.S. airport to achieve ISO 50001 certification, underscoring its commitment to systematic energy management.
What can travelers expect from ATL in the future?
ATLNext is a multi-decade improvement program with an estimated investment of $6 billion, spanning numerous projects over the next 20 years. The initiative focuses on increasing capacity, modernizing and replacing aging facilities, and enhancing the airport’s design and passenger experience. These efforts aim to maintain Hartsfield-Jackson’s position as one of the world’s busiest and most efficient airports while improving customer service and adapting facilities to meet travelers’ evolving needs.