The Big Island of Hawaii's primary landfill in Hilo is currently scheduled to be closed down in five years due to reaching its maximum capacity. However, Mayor Billy Kenoi of Hawaii County (Big Island of Hawaii) is requesting that the landfill remain open an additional five to seven years after that. Kenoi is proposing building a garbage incinerator plant that would burn solid waste material into electricity within the next three or four years, but would like a few years of buffer in between just in case of delays. Kenoi stated, "Our goal is to have in the next 31⁄2 years a long-term solution on the ground and implemented. Any project can take years. We've never let previous timelines stymie us."
There is a garbage incinerator on Oahu called HPOWER which currently burns approximately 2,000 tons of solid waste material per day and provides approximately 7 percent of Oahu's electricity. However, one challenge facing the Big Island of Hawaii is that the entire county only generates 419 tons of solid waste per day. Experts note that 500 tons per day is the minimum amount of waste necessary to make the garbage incinerator plant economically efficient. There is also the option of sending some of the Big Island of Hawaii's solid waste to Oahu's HPOWER plant by boat.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 7-1-2013, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, REALTOR®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
www.myhawaiihomesearch.com
www.myhawaiicondo.com
www.myhawaiidreamhome.com
