LETTER: Deja Vu for Maui Recycling Advocates

By Kainoa Horcajo, president, Maui Recycling Group

Maui’s longtime recycling advocates are feeling like they have seen it all before. And they have.

Kainoa Horcajo, president of Maui Recycling Group and former co-host of TEDxMaui 2013. Courtesy photo.

Mayor Alan Arakawa’s plan to deal with Maui’s solid waste issues is a dead ringer for a plan we first saw 25 years ago. As a matter of fact, it was prepared by the same Washington State Engineering/Consulting firm – Gershman, Brickner & Bratton (GB&B). This plan appears to have the support of Mayor Arakawa and some members of the County Council.

Originally retained during the tenure of Mayor Hannibal Tavares (1979-1991), GB&B presented the mayor and County Council of that time with a solid recommendation for a Waste To Energy (WTE) program. Under this plan the county would invest in a municipal solid waste incinerator, similar to HPOWER on Oahu. Lip service was given to source reduction, reuse and recycling programs but it was clear that, if implemented, the GB&B plan would leave Maui with no viable option to an expensive and environmentally questionable incinerator. Fortunately, this plan was never implemented because citizens interested in environmental progress asked some timely and provocative questions. From this came, eventually, a repudiation of the GB&B/Tavares plan by the County Council.

Now, decades later, it is deja’ vu all over again as we ask virtually the same questions:

– Mayor Arakawa, you said in your State of the County address that a Waste To Energy facility would pull out the recyclables first. What specific recyclables are you referring to? Metals? Paper? Plastic? Glass? Greenwaste? Or do you plan on burning some or all of these recyclables for energy? Are you going to incinerate all the yard trimmings and greenwaste for energy, and if so, what will the community do for compost?

– Your proposed budget does not include expanding curbside recycling despite your saying, in your first State of the County address, that we should take curbside recycling county-wide and that you would provide this service for our community. Why have you gone back on your promise?

– You just announced you are planning to close the community dropbox recycling sites. Will you still keep the HI 5 redemption centers open for the community?

– What experience do members of the Waste To Energy RFP committee have in reviewing WTE proposals and who, specifically, is on that committee?

We respect the fact that the Arakawa administration has moved forward enough to develop a draft plan. We look forward to working to make sure the answers to the questions above will assure us and other Mauians that there is still no place for a municipal solid waste incinerator on Maui.

This opinion is presented by the Maui Recycling Group, a tax-exempt (IRS 501 [C][3]).

[email protected]
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Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii 96793
(808) 283-9419

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