LIHUE — Kauai’s recyclables, for the most part, don’t stick around. Instead, they are shipped as near as Oahu and as far as China. Take that soda can you just tossed in the recycle bin. It’s headed for either Tennessee
LIHUE — Kauai’s recyclables, for the most part, don’t stick around.
Instead, they are shipped as near as Oahu and as far as China.
Take that soda can you just tossed in the recycle bin. It’s headed for either Tennessee or South Korea, where more times than not, it is turned back into its former self.
Motor oil and tires — Oahu, where they are burned for fuel at AES Hawaii Power Plant.
Computers, televisions and other eWaste — California.
Hazardous household waste, including paint and cleaning supplies — Washington.
But regardless of where it goes, is enough recycling being done here on Kauai?
“In general, yes, more has to be done,” said Pat Gegen, chair of the nonprofit Zero Waste Kauai.
A look at the numbers
Over the past 10 years, Kauai’s diversion rate has been steadily climbing. In 2002, it was roughly half of what it is today, at just 22 percent. In 2009, it was up to 29 percent. But in 2013, recycling programs diverted a total of 43 percent of the solid waste generated on Kauai; however, the Kekaha Landfill still received 74,000 tons — an average of more than 200 tons per day.
About 60 percent of that landfill tonnage, county officials estimate, could have been reused, recycled or repurposed.
But it’s not a secret that recycling comes at a pretty penny.
For fiscal year 2015, the county has budgeted $3.04 million for its program. Nearly half that, $1.35 million, is allocated for green waste processing. The rest is divvied out for different line items — $560,000 for Kauai Recycles, $120,000 for household hazardous waste, $363,000 for metals recycling and $80,000 for used tires processing.
Once deposited by consumers, recyclables become the property of county contractors, which market the commodities, remove contaminants, bale materials and ship them to market. The cost of shipping is included in the per-ton price that is paid to the recycler, according to Solid Waste.
While markets vary depending on the material, Solid Waste said the bulk of recyclables — cardboard, mixed paper, newspaper, plastic #1 and #2, scrap metal, white goods and even vehicles — are shipped to various processing facilities in China.
Aluminum is bound for Tennessee and South Korea, HI-5 glass beverage containers for California, and non-HI-5 glass is crushed and used on island by businesses and local residents.
In fiscal year 2013, county programs prevented nearly 26,000 tons of solid waste from ending up in the Kekaha landfill, while private sector programs accounted for just over 31,000 tons.
Together, that’s 57,000 tons — 114 million pounds.
However, the majority — about half — was green waste. The county alone diverted nearly 19,000 tons of the stuff.
How the items are reused
While it isn’t able to follow recycled items to the remanufacture stage, the county is aware of what items are commonly produced from each commodity.
Aluminum cans become more aluminum cans. Newspapers become newsprint, gypsum wallboard liner, animal bedding, cat litter and more.
Phone books are turned into insulation and shipboard. Office paper into toilet and facial tissue, paper napkins and diapers.
Steel cans become more steel cans, refrigerators and car parts.
Plastic soft drink bottles become fiberfill for ski jackets and sleeping bags, carpeting, paint brush bristles, surfboards and more. Milk jugs — flower pots, trash cans, traffic cones and yard furniture.
The list goes on.
Solid Waste officials said the biggest challenges with recycling on Kauai include “a small stream of materials that do not yield economies of scale like the Mainland or even Oahu, and limited competition for service, resulting in elevated program costs.”
However, implementing the necessary infrastructure for improvement — such as a Materials Recovery Facility that will facilitate program convenience, including curbside recycling — is expected to increase the recycling yield and bring down costs, according to the division.
“Kauai residents and businesses are generally supportive of recycling because they truly care about preserving the natural beauty of our island,” department officials wrote.
Last year, the county administration unveiled its plan to fast track an MRF, calling it “critical” to developing a strong residential recycling program.
The proposed MRF
Ted Inouye, 88, of Lihue, said he supports the move — depending on the final monthly fee — and would definitely recycle more if he had a curbside service.
“It’s more convenient, instead of coming here,” he said, while dropping off his cans and bottles at the county bins behind Kmart.
County Engineer Larry Dill said a contracted consultant has already developed a conceptual design for the MRF, with facility throughput estimates (the amount of recyclable material projected to be processed), a process flow diagram and equipment performance specifications.
The final conceptual design plan, estimate on equipment costs, drafting and finalizing the Environmental Assessment and assistance with the development of procurement documents for final design and operations are part of that contract; however, those tasks are on hold until the county finalizes where the facility would go, according to Dill.
“We plan to have the MRF operating by the end of 2017,” Dill wrote in an email. “We are currently assessing the use of the existing Kauai Resource Center site.”
The facility is expected to cost between $5 and $6 million, not including land or external infrastructure costs, according to Dill.
Kapahi resident Linda Gabrian said curbside is important, but that with recent tax increases, people are not going to want to support the higher fees that will likely come with it.
“That’s not going to fly,” she said. “I think there’s going to be a lot of resistance.”
If a county MRF doesn’t get built
Dill said the backup plan would be to solicit a private- sector operator to accept and process single-stream recycling from the county’s residential curbside recycling service.
“In that case, a contractor would need (to) locate a site and build a MRF in order to bid on the job,” Dill wrote. “The per-ton fee for this approach is expected to be significantly higher because the capital costs to purchase a site and build the MRF would be embedded in the per-ton fee.”
In addition to an MRF, Solid Waste is working on several initiatives to reach its goal of 70 percent diversion by 2023. Those include implementing ordinances that mandate recycling at businesses and construction sites, a pay-as-you-throw system for residential refuse hauling to encourage waste reduction, and adding blue recycling carts and green yard waste carts at the curb.
“In the long term, we will add food waste collection to the curbside program which is happening in communities like San Francisco that have exceeded 70 percent diversion,” the division wrote.
In the past 10 years, the county has added mixed paper, plastic #1 and #2, steel and bi-metal cans, motor oil filters, household batteries, propane tanks and eWaste to its list of recyclables collected on a regular basis.
Although the pay-as-you-throw proposal has drawn fire in recent weeks, county officials say it provides an economic incentive for waste diversion and raises awareness.
Gegen said he is all for it.
“If you charge people based on the amount of trash they create, basic common sense says they will do more to decrease the amount,” he said.
In Gegen’s mind, a bigger issue is that people need to be conscious of what they are buying and throwing away, and that a curbside recycling program would make it very easy for consumers to do the right thing.
As for reaching the 2023 diversion rate goal, Gegen sees no reason it can’t happen if businesses do better and curbside recycling gets off the ground.
“Yes, 70 percent is very realistic,” he said.
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Chris D’Angelo, environment writer, can be reached at 245-0441 or cdangelo@thegardenisland.com.
