Hawaii County is seeking a state Department of Health permit for a full-scale composting facility — the first in Hawaii — before breaking ground next year.
The approximately $10.5 million processing plant will turn green waste, food-contaminated paper and the island’s leftover food scraps into compost for use on local farms and gardens.
As of 2009, organics comprised 54 percent of waste taken to the dump, according to a draft environmental assessment for the project dated Aug. 22. The planning document recommends a finding of no significant impact for the facility, to be located on Ho‘olaulima Road near the Hilo landfill.
The operation will be an expansion of the county’s existing mulching program, which diverts about 40,000 tons of green waste a year, said Linda Peters, county recycling coordinator. “We want to capture more of that,” she said.
The facility will be privately operated, with compost sold at market rates. Mulch, made out of green waste and untreated wood pallets, will remain free for residents.
In addition to filing the EA, the county also is seeking a permit from the DOH required for composting facilities, Peters said. She said construction is estimated to start in April, with the facility opening in late summer 2018.
The EA says 28,000 tons of organic waste will be composted the first year, with that ramping up to 35,000 tons by year 10.
That includes 18,000 tons from West Hawaii, which will be trucked to Hilo. Waste trucks could be going in both directions.
The county is working to close the Hilo landfill as it nears capacity in the next three years.
It would then truck non-compostable waste to the Puuanahulu landfill in West Hawaii.
The EA says the West Hawaii landfill doesn’t have an adequate enough water supply to host the composting facility.
Diverting more organic waste has been a goal for the county at least going back to 2003, when the County Council passed a resolution seeking to divert half of its waste by 2008 and 80 percent by 2013.
That was followed by a zero waste resolution in 2007.
The facility will include a scale, a tipping building for sorting waste and covered compost heaps.
Peters said the composting process will naturally heat the waste to levels that should kill most invasive species, such as little fire ants.
She said removing organic waste from garbage bins won’t be mandatory, so the success of the program will depend on public engagement. Peters said a lower tipping fee for organic waste will help encourage residents and businesses to separate their waste.
“We’re excited to be the first island in the state to have this type of operation,” she said.
“We look forward to working with the community to help divert as much as we can from our landfill.”
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
