Companies hauling commercially-generated recyclables to the public landfill will face fines for non-compliant loads starting July 16, Kaua‘i County Recycling Coordinator Allison Fraley said this week. Officials are enforcing a 10-year-old ordinance to divert from Kekaha Landfill recyclable cardboard, metal
Companies hauling commercially-generated recyclables to the public landfill will face fines for non-compliant loads starting July 16, Kaua‘i County Recycling Coordinator Allison Fraley said this week.
Officials are enforcing a 10-year-old ordinance to divert from Kekaha Landfill recyclable cardboard, metal and green waste generated by business, industrial and other non-residential sources. The county-operated facility, located on Kaumualii Highway, has eight years capacity, Fraley said.
The county decided to implement the ban now “due to the limited airspace at the landfill and our need to do whatever possible to increase the life of the landfill,” she added.
County consulting services are available for free to businesses interested in establishing a recycling program.
“We can do a site visit, look at the waste stream and operations,” Fraley said. “Then come up with a set of recommendations for a business waste reduction program. The county is here to help, get people to comply and save our landfill. That’s the goal — not to penalize, but to keep stuff out.”
Landfill staff have begun screening loads and starting July 16, trucks with cargo capacities up to two tons will be fined $200 per violation. Vehicles with capacities exceeding two tons will be fined $400 per illegal load.
Commercial loads get screened first at the scale house, then again at the landfill, according to the Kekaha Landfill measure master.
“We have two lines of defense. When commercial loads come to the scale house, I check the camera to see if there’s cardboard. In some bins we can see it, in others, it’s covered,” she said. “If I miss something because it’s covered with debris, workers up at the landfill pull it out.”
Recycling services for commercial use are available for a fee at Garden Isle Disposal in Lihu‘e, Puhi Metals Center on Puhi Road and county refuse transfer stations.
“It’s not free, but it’s what needs to happen to keep stuff out of the landfill,” Fraley said. “We’re not only saving space, but we’re saving renewable resources like cardboard and the energy and water it takes to produce it from virgin materials.”
Corrugated cardboard — what shipping boxes are commonly made from and the stuff that contains the ribbing — is banned from the landfill, the recycling coordinator said.
A letter the county sent to hundreds of commercial customers at the landfill says “there will be no exception for ‘contaminated’ cardboard that has been mismanaged or mixed with rubbish, causing it to become soiled or wet.”
Waxed boxes that commonly contain produce and fish are not recyclable and are exempt. Also, paperboard or box board that is thin and not corrugated should be recycled with mixed paper, according to the Department of Public Works.
For more information, call the county recycling office at 241-6891.
