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A bulldozer buries trash Tuesday, July 1, 2008, at the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Kapolei,
Hawaii. (AP)
A bulldozer buries trash Tuesday, July 1, 2008, at the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill in Kapolei,
Hawaii. (AP)
Hawaii Says Farewell to Oahu Trash
by
Anne Szustek
The roughly 600-square-mile tropical tourist mecca is running out of space for its garbage, so the Honolulu City Council is readying it to set sail.
30-Second Summary
The 200-acre Waimanalo Gulch Landfill, Honolulu’s only municipal waste disposal facility, is projected to reach capacity in the next 15 years. Given the constraints of its island setting, the city is looking elsewhere to outsource its trash, namely floating 2,000 tons of it a week to the cheapest bidder, which, at $99 per ton, is currently Seattle-based company Hawaiian Waste Systems.
Hawaiian Waste Systems’ proposal includes shrink-wrapping the garbage before shipping to abide by U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations for Hawaiian exports. It would then be hauled by barge 2,600 miles to Washington state, where it would travel via the Columbia River to Klickitat County, which sees the trash as an economic opportunity.
“Roosevelt Landfill is our county's third-largest employer and single greatest source of municipal revenue,” said Klickitat County board of commissioners chair Ray Thayer.
Oregon’s Columbia Ridge Landfill has emerged as another destination for Oahu’s trash, a scenario the Portland Tribune sees as ironic, considering Seattle sends 2 million tons of trash there each year.
In fact, several places in the United States outsource their refuse, including Anchorage, New York City, Tennessee and Durham, N.C.
Some Hawaiians are not pleased about the prospect of exported Oahu trash. Jeff Mikulina, director of Hawaii’s chapter of the Sierra Club, said to the Associated Press, “That’s certainly not the type of aloha we need to send to the mainland.” An editorial in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin mentions that expanding Waimanalo potentially could destroy nearby ancient navigation stones.
Hawaiian Waste Systems’ proposal includes shrink-wrapping the garbage before shipping to abide by U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations for Hawaiian exports. It would then be hauled by barge 2,600 miles to Washington state, where it would travel via the Columbia River to Klickitat County, which sees the trash as an economic opportunity.
“Roosevelt Landfill is our county's third-largest employer and single greatest source of municipal revenue,” said Klickitat County board of commissioners chair Ray Thayer.
Oregon’s Columbia Ridge Landfill has emerged as another destination for Oahu’s trash, a scenario the Portland Tribune sees as ironic, considering Seattle sends 2 million tons of trash there each year.
In fact, several places in the United States outsource their refuse, including Anchorage, New York City, Tennessee and Durham, N.C.
Some Hawaiians are not pleased about the prospect of exported Oahu trash. Jeff Mikulina, director of Hawaii’s chapter of the Sierra Club, said to the Associated Press, “That’s certainly not the type of aloha we need to send to the mainland.” An editorial in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin mentions that expanding Waimanalo potentially could destroy nearby ancient navigation stones.
Headline Link: ‘Hawaii’s New Export: Trash’
The 100,000 tons of trash to be exported each year accounts for 6 percent of the trash generated on Oahu. Oahu’s annual 4.5 million tourists and 900,000-odd permanent residents generate some 1.8 million tons a year. John Guinian at waste collection company Trash Man Hawaii told the AP, “It’s a Band-Aid on a bullet hole. But we really don’t have much of an alternative at this point.”
Source: Time (AP)
Video: ‘Trash Headed to Mainland; 2,000 Tons per Week’
Local CBS affiliate KGMB reports that in addition to Hawaiian Waste Systems, “other companies being considered include Simcoe Environmental Services Inc and Off-Island Transfer.”
Source: KGMB (Honolulu)
Background: Bid for Hawaii’s garbage; other jurisdictions that have their trash taken out
Klickitat County, Wash., vies for Hawaiian garbage
Hawaiian Waste Systems would transport air-tight shrink wrapped trash from Oahu via barge to Washington state. There, it would be floated up the Columbia River on boats to the Roosevelt Regional Landfill. Ray Thayer, chair of the Klickitat County Board of Commissioners, where the landfill is located, was excited about the prospects of Hawaiian garbage: “Roosevelt Landfill is our county's third-largest employer and single greatest source of municipal revenue, and as such is vitally important to the economic well-being of our region.”
Source: Puget Sound Business Journal
New York
New York City exports much of its garbage to rural Virginia, where seven large landfills have opened in the state since 1990. An estimated 100,000 trips per year into Virginia are from out-of-state garbage haulers. Iowa, Puerto Rico, Durham, N.C., parts of the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and New Jersey are among other areas that send their trash to Virginia.
Source: The Washington Post (free registration may be required)
Seattle
Seattle exports roughly 2 million tons a year of its garbage to Oregon’s Columbia Ridge Landfill, another proposed destination for Oahu’s garbage. The Portland Tribune writes, “Hawaii could do a much better job of following Oregon’s lead toward a culture of environmental awareness … Hawaiians recycle less than 25 percent of their sold waste. Oregonians, by comparison, recycle more than 50 percent of their waste.”
Source: Portland Tribune
Toronto
Toronto has a deal with the state of Michigan to take in its trash, but it is set to expire in 2010.
Source: Capital News Online
Opinion & Analysis: ‘Garbage Would Be an Ignominious Export for Honolulu’
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin takes a look at the financial aspects of the city outsourcing its trash: “The administration and the Council need no reminder that city taxpayers would not be happy if the trash plan ends up costing them more … officials better have their calculators powered up to ensure another fee isn't just beyond the horizon.”
Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin
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