Proposed landfill diversion project on Maui seeks to convert waste into renewable natural gas

E&K Aloha ʻĀina, LLC is proposing a landfill diversion project which would convert municipal solid waste and mixed plastic waste into renewable natural gas. Through this waste-to-fuel project, waste would be sorted, processed, and thermo-chemically transformed for beneficial use, instead of being landfilled. This waste-to-fuel project is projected to result in landfill diversion of roughly 90% of all incoming material.

A draft environmental assessment and an anticipated finding of no significant impact have been filed. There is a statutory 30-day public review and comment period underway, with comments due by July 23, 2025. Please HERE to read the document, then send comments to environmental.mgmt@co.maui.hi.us.

Waste would be brought to the plant facility from commercial and residential collection or transfer station in trucks. The waste would be sorted and transformed into residual derivative fuel (RDF). The resulting RDF briquettes would be stored near the gasification unit and introduced into the gasifier at a steady rate via a hopper to maintain a consistent production rate of syngas.

While the ash would be landfilled, the gas mixture would be further purified to result in a primarily hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide gas mixture. This synthetic gas (syngas) would be further refined through a methanation process to produce renewable natural gas.

The renewable natural gas produced would either be utilized on Maui or compressed and shipped to Oʻahu.