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Based on recycling and waste-to-energy data collected for calendar year 2010, Oahu currently diverts 64% of the total waste from landfills, ranking Honolulu among the top cities in the country.
How we manage our island’s waste will affect generations to come. Further increasing recycling and waste-to-energy will benefit the environment and divert thousands more tons from the landfill. Oahu generates more than 1.5 million tons of waste annually, of which almost 1 million tons are diverted to beneficial use in recycling and waste-to-energy. More than 500,000 tons of various materials are reused and remade into new products, and another 500,000 tons are converted into electricity at the H-POWER waste-to-energy facility. We can and need to do more.
Hawaii counties are required to update solid waste management plans every five years. The City's most recent solid waste master plan, and technical studies which contributed to the development of the plan, are posted online in the Resource Library, along with previous master plan documents and studies and annual recycling rate data for 1988 to present.
The ultimate goal is to minimize the use of landfills to the absolute smallest level practical. Currently on Oahu, both material recycling and energy recycling divert a significant portion of the waste from the landfill. When most of us think of recycling, we think of taking an old aluminum can and making it into a new aluminum can. This type of recycling is referred to as material recycling. On Oahu, our waste-to-energy facility (H-POWER) also enables us to take garbage and convert it into energy, which is referred to as energy recycling. In order to further increase landfill diversion, we must consider how best to utilize the garbage going to landfill as a resource – to remanufacture new products and/or generate additional power.
By 2013, the City expects to increase landfill diversion rates to more than 70%. Expansions to H-POWER and the development of a new composting facility are slated to be complete and operational before year-end 2012. The expansion of H-POWER will increase the plant’s capacity by an additional 300,000 tons per year, diverting a total of 35% from landfill. (H-POWER video and Powerpoint). A new composting facility to process a combination of green waste, food waste and sewage sludge, is expected to increase recycling of sewage sludge by an additional 15,000 tons and food waste by an additional 10,000 tons. And by optimizing existing residential and commercial recycling programs, including further increasing recycling through the islandwide residential curbside recycling collection system, the City expects to increase the material recycling rate to more than 35%. |
