LIHU‘E — The Kaua‘i County Council unanimously approved efforts to seek new ways of managing Kaua‘i’s solid waste — including burning trash — as the island’s landfill rapidly nears capacity.
The county Department of Public Works, alongside engineering company HDR, Inc., received approval on April 19 to begin sending requests for proposals to several waste management companies, seeking alternative solutions for waste management.
The company previously screened approximately 25 proposals from potential partners, spanning thermal, biological, chemical and mechanical solutions — ultimately concluding that one of two thermal options would likely best suit Kaua‘i’s needs.
One possibility presented was direct combustion, or controlled burning of the island’s waste, which the consultants noted could be used to create electricity via turbines.
The other, gasification, transforms biomass and fossil-fuel-based waste into a gaseous fuel by heating trash at temperatures nearing 1,300 degrees or higher.
“I think the direct combustion and gasification technologies are proven,” said Mike Kaiser, project manager at HDR, Inc. “It’s a matter, obviously, of cost, and what they’re going to produce in the end product, whether it’s fuel or electricity. All of the front-end processes — the recyclables and mixed-waste — they’re all commercially ready.”
The consultants also agreed that a combination of waste combustion and a mixed-waste sorting facility (known as a “dirty MRF” — materials recovery facility) would likely be the county’s best course of action.
However, both the consultants and council members expressed some concern over whether Kaua‘i could produce enough waste-derived energy to make it financially viable for the county.
“We think your waste tonnage is right on the cusp of where (partners) would come in with a proposal,” Kaiser told the council. “They can be scaled up and down, but … if you’re producing enough power just to keep your facility operating, there’s no revenue.”
“The burden then falls back on the county under their agreements for operation to make up for that money,” added Tim Steinberger, technical advisor at HDR, Inc. “Because you’re going to be paying for debt service, you’re going to be paying for labor, and you’re going to be paying for (operations and maintenance) costs.”
Still, county Solid Waste Management Coordinator Allison Fraley emphasized the dire need for some waste alternative, as a planned vertical expansion of the landfill, set to be completed in no sooner than two years, would only extend the landfill’s lifespan from three years to six.
“We definitely need the vertical expansion, no matter what,” she said. “Even then, the timelines would be very close, because we’d get through this process, and then we’re building a new facility. So that would take, we estimate, four to six years … for a conversion technology facility to be off the ground.”
As the consultants suggested the first stage of RFPs could be completed in 30 to 60 days, council members stressed that the county must move quickly to ensure solutions are in place before the landfill reaches capacity.
“To me, trying nothing is putting more ‘opala in our precious land, and we’re wasting a lot of dirt to cover that thing — precious dirt, topsoil dirt,” said council member Ross Kagawa, using the Hawaiian word for garbage. “And it saddens me that we haven’t pushed harder forward with one of these guys. We’re going to have to swing the bat, guys. We cannot keep striking out standing up.”
•••
Jackson Healy, reporter, can be reached at 808-647-4966 or jhealy@thegardenisland.com.
