CIRA de CASTILLOTGI Staff Writer LIHU’E — A committee evaluating proposals to divert solid waste from the county landfill has reduced the field of bidders from 10 to five finalists. The companies have been notified and their names are expected
CIRA de CASTILLOTGI Staff Writer
LIHU’E — A committee evaluating proposals to divert solid waste from the
county landfill has reduced the field of bidders from 10 to five
finalists.
The companies have been notified and their names are expected to
be made public within a week.
Jean Camp, executive assistant to Mayor
Maryanne Kusaka who is facilitating the process, said the next step will be a
pair of public meetings, April 13 and 17, designed to acquaint the public with
the proposals.
Representatives of the five finalists have been invited to
outline their proposals at the meetings. Kusaka said the meetings are being
held to gain community input and support.
Camp, a chemical engineer, said
the county expects the new facility to be operational by 2004. The county will
award a 20-year contract to the successful bidder. Cost of the contract has not
been disclosed.
The county is looking for a company that can process 80
tons of municipal solid waste a day and may also accept 140 tons of commercial
waste each day.
The Kekaha Landfill is expected to reach capacity in three
or four years. Camp said the county hopes to have its new facility on line
within four years.
The county also has begun the process of selecting a
site for another landfill. This landfill may support whatever new municipal
solid waste technology is chosen. The size, location and cost of a new landfill
will depend on technology of the solid waste management facility.
The
county hopes to have its scrap metals (junk car) recycling facility in Puhi
open by mid-summer and is currently preparing a proposal for operation of the
facility.
Programs that deal with transfer station operations, source
reduction, recycling, composting and education are being addressed as part of
the county’s Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan.
“Getting the public to
buy into that plan,” Camp said, “is the area where we’re the weakest.”
All
of the emerging programs are important and can have a big impact on the
success of Kaua’i’s waste management plan, said Kusaka.
The island’s
Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, was adopted by the County Council in
1994 and recently updated by the Mayor’s Solid Waste Task Force.
It
addresses general waste management policies along with specific recommendations
for waste stream assessment, source reduction, recycling and bioconversion,
marketing, materials procurement, landfilling, incineration, special waste,
household hazardous waste, facility capacity and future needs.
The plan is
the basis for the management of all Kaua’i’s solid waste.
