Many travelers at San Francisco International Airport think nothing of buying a plastic water bottle on the way to a flight.

Starting Aug. 20, that won’t be possible.

In an unprecedented move for a major American airport, SFO is banning the sale of single-use plastic water bottles. The new rule — which exempts flavored water — will apply to restaurants, cafes and vending machines in the airport. Fliers needing plain water will have to buy refillable aluminum or glass bottles if they don’t bring their own.

“We’re the first airport that we’re aware of to implement this change,” SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said. “We’re on the leading edge for the industry, and we want to push the boundaries of sustainability initiatives.”

(Click here for answers to frequently asked questions about the ban.)

The shift away from plastics is part of a broader plan at SFO to slash net carbon emissions and energy use to zero and eliminate most landfill waste by 2021. But it’s not wholly voluntary: As a department of San Francisco’s municipal government, the airport is following an ordinance approved in 2014 banning the sale of plastic water bottles on city-owned property. More recently, San Francisco has taken a stance against plastic straws. SFO has also told vendors to provide only compostable single-use foodware, including to-go containers, condiment packets, straws and disposable utensils.

Shops at the airport have been able to adjust to the foodware requirements pretty easily, thanks partly to the growing number of suppliers producing compostable to-go cups and the like, said Michael Levine, CEO of the company that oversees Napa Farms Market, a store selling grab-and-go fare in Terminal 2 and International Terminal G.

“But the water bottle impact is a little trickier,” he said.

Indeed, a visit to SFO Thursday morning revealed plenty of plastic water bottles still for sale at shops in Terminal 3 outside security.

Airport vendors collectively sell about 4 million plastic water bottles per year, and according to Levine, the products represent an important source of revenue for quick-service businesses. Some have already begun phasing out plastic bottles, opting instead to carry glass bottles from brand-name spring water companies and plastic-free reusable bottles, according to Levine.

It’s unclear whether the airport will cite or penalize shops that don’t comply with the new rule when it takes effect later this month. Yakel said SFO is “hopeful that this won’t be necessary.”

When informed of the impending bottle ban Thursday, San Francisco native Tony Vargas, 46, thought about it for a moment: “It’s great — kind of.”

Vargas had just bought a bottle of water at Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

“I’d like to see them sell more compostables, reusable and even, you know, biodegradable bottles,” he said. “I think bottled water is the most ridiculous thing. It’s a bunch of waste.”

Yakel said the airport has received little protest about the ban, in part because shops have had plenty of notice. As for fliers, since 2011, SFO has installed more than 100 “hydration stations” — wall-mounted water dispensers where travelers can fill reusable bottles with free filtered water. (As terminal construction and renovations continue, more such stations are on the way.)

The bottled water industry has also shifted toward single-use vessels made from aluminum and glass, he said (though few were in evidence at shops outside security Thursday).

“Our hope is that that migration will continue, where it’ll touch sodas and teas and juices and other flavored beverages to the point where, in the future, it’s realistic for us to expand this prohibition on plastic bottles,” Yakel said. “Will this be the last change? Hopefully not.”

SFO has been a leader among airports in its sustainability efforts. Terminal 2 was the first LEED Gold-certified airport building in the country; its Airfield Operations Facility, powered by a rooftop solar array, is the first in the world to achieve a Zero Net Energy certification.

The airport has recently also decreed, in line with a new San Francisco ordinance, that tenants hosting events with 100 or more people in attendance provide reusable beverage cups to at least 10% of them.

More Information 2.8 billion Pounds of plastic bottles recycled in 2017, according to American Chemistry Council and Association of Plastic Recyclers 16 billion Pounds of plastic discarded in our oceans every year, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 50% Estimated share of plastic that is used just once and thrown away, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 6x It takes about six times as much water to produce a bottle of water as there is in the container, according to Plastic Oceans International

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David Park, 19, a political science student at the University of Calgary who was at SFO Thursday on a layover, said he doesn’t think the ban will “make a huge difference.”

He said he admires San Francisco’s effort to take the initiative, but “I don’t think this is going to change much with climate change.”

Levine said he hadn’t come across a company producing bottled water in compostable vessels at scale. If there were, “I think everybody (in the airport) would easily migrate towards them in a heartbeat,” he said.

“If this is successful in San Francisco,” Levine added, “it will be copied by other airports.”

Gregory Thomas and Eduardo Medina are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: gthomas@sfchronicle.com eduardo.medina@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @gregrthomas @byEduardoMedina