PUHI — The county expects to have a company hired by next month or September to run the Puhi Metals Recycling Facility, said Jean Camp, Mayor Maryanne Kusaka’s executive assistant on solid waste matters. That facility would accept junk vehicles,
PUHI — The county expects to have a company hired by next month or September
to run the Puhi Metals Recycling Facility, said Jean Camp, Mayor Maryanne
Kusaka’s executive assistant on solid waste matters.
That facility would
accept junk vehicles, scrap metals, large household appliances and other
unwanted metal items.
As far as the Kaua’i Solid Waste Task Force (SWTF)
recommendations for solving the island’s junk car problem, the county yesterday
expressed concerns and voiced other options.
Rather than opt for a “bounty”
to be refunded to the last registered owner of a vehicle once that vehicle is
legally disposed of at the end of its useful life, the county favors a business
process re-engineering technique, Camp told the reactivated SWTF.
The
re-engineering technique would bring together businesses and government
officials to look at what happens to a vehicle during its entire life on the
island, from the time it first arrives on the island to the time it no longer
serves a useful transportation purpose for any owner, Camp explained.
The
result of this study would be to come up with a flow chart of what’s happening
with the island’s 60,000 registered vehicles now, then taking a detailed look
at each step along the way with an eye on how the process can be improved upon,
or eliminated all together.
New ideas, ways of solving in this case the
junk car problem, are also discussed, she said.
Kusaka also said the
political process must be factored in, and may add up to two months to any
decision-making regarding a long-term solution to the island’s junk car
problem.
The County Council must buy into, and possibly fund, any idea to
rid the island of junk vehicles, Kusaka stated.
In her presentation to the
SWTF, which yesterday saw 10 members present (and five from the general
public), Camp outlined several solid waste goals to be accomplished during the
current fiscal year:
* Establish the site for a new landfill;
The
county is seeking the SWTF’s assistance in collecting public acceptance
feedback, preferably by the end of this month, to give to the landfill siting
consultant, Camp said.
* Hire a company to prepare the Kaua’i Disaster
Debris Management Program;
Some companies are interested in preparing the
program, which by law must be in place by March of next year. Camp would like
to see the plan in place by the end of this year.
* Hire an operator to
open the Puhi Metals Recycling Facility;
* Hire a recycling coordinator and
open a resource center for plastics recycling and recycling education (see the
related story);
* Expand existing and establish new source reduction and
landfill diversion programs;
“This is the other major item where we need
your help,” Camp told the SWTF. A waste study was done about two months ago,
examining the contents of the landfill. The county is awaiting the results of
that study, but wants the SWTF to focus on helping divert more greenwaste,
plastics and household hazardous waste from the landfill. Now, there are over
20 different places to legally bring various types of wastes, and even for an
expert like Camp it can get confusing, she said.
* Provide a case study and
alternatives to the County Council to justify funding a new solid waste plant,
and re-bid for construction and operation of such a plant, if funding is
approved.
Further, Camp outlined what she’d like to see in place by the end
of the current fiscal year (by June 30, 2001), including a new recycling center
with recycling coordinator; increased participation and enthusiasm among all
private and commercial people, thereby creating greater diversion of waste from
the landfill; a new Kaua’i Recycles handbook; consistency and convenience at
all transfer stations, recycling centers and similar locations; an education
center and program; mass balance showing flow rates and compositions of all
waste streams; and a means to collect, monitor and analyze solid waste data in
the future.
The next meeting of the SWTF is tentatively set for Wednesday,
Aug. 2, at 9:30 a.m. in the Lihu’e Civic Center. Call 241-6880 for more
information.
Business editor Paul Curtis can be reached at 245-3681 ext.
224 or pcurtis@pulitzer.net
