Waste plan draws fire

A waste-to-energy plant recommended by consultants working with county officials failed to gain strong support yesterday from members of a special advisory committee and likely will face opposition when it goes before the County Council.

The consultants will advise the county to put the lengthy process of developing a waste-to-energy facility in motion, while simultaneously implementing commercial and residential recycling initiatives that could extend the life of the current landfill in Kekaha.

The county has projected that the Kekaha Municipal Solid Waste Landfill will close in 2013, a fact that Karen M. Luken, consultant with R.W. Beck, said called for quick action since the permitting and approval process for a new facility could take about five years.

“If you have a landfill that’s closing by 2013, some alternative needs to be operational by 2011 or 2012,” she said.

But more than half of the members of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee polled during the group’s final meeting expressed concerns about the consultants’ recommendations.

“I’m not in a hurry to make a poor decision,” Kapa‘a resident James Trujillo said.

Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura attended the meeting, calling the study that led to the proposal “a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“If you have a really aggressive recycling program, you’re not going to get these numbers you’re projecting,” she said.

The plan calls for the gradual analysis and implementation of waste diversion strategies like residential curbside recycling, a pay-as-you-throw program that would provide an incentive to recycle and curbside green waste collection.

But the report used conservative estimates when projecting the effects of these programs on the waste stream, Luken said. Annual updates during the development process would be required, she said.

“This plan cannot be stagnant,” she said.

The recommended $38 million to $43 million facility would process 50,800 tons of residential waste and generate enough energy to power 7,300 homes for a year, according to a draft report prepared by R.W. Beck.

The leftovers — waste and ash representing only about a third of the weight of the original haul — would be landfilled, according to the report.

The recommended facility does not include capacity for more than half of the projected 2011 waste stream — almost 65,000 tons of commercial waste.

A facility would require additional capacity to process commercial waste, an extension that would include an upfront mixed waste recycling facility and ring in at between $88 million and $98.3 million, according to the draft.

The current plan would allow commercial users to pay to use the facility, but the plant would not be sized to accommodate commercial waste, Luken said. Instead, additional landfill cells would be added as needed, she said.

The proposed plant would likely require a partnership with a private entity, along with a contract to process a set quantity of waste, said Luken.

Critics also have said burning trash will not discourage the reduction of Kaua‘i’s solid waste output.

“We’re only giving lip service to the biggest problem, which is the amount of trash we create in the first place,” said Bill Cowern, a SWAC member from the Kaua‘i County Farm Bureau.

The plan would about double the current tipping fee, or cost per ton of material deposited at the municipal landfill in Kekaha, pushing that figure up to between $104 and $120 — a cost that some SWAC members said would drive businesses to look for other outlets.

In addition to waste-to-energy facilities, the draft plan scheduled phased implementation of strengthened recycling initiatives.

The first year introduces a recycling campaign that targets tourists, who generate a large percentage of the island’s waste, as well as promotion of backyard composting that would divert the green and food material from the waste stream.

• Charlotte Woolard, business writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or cwoolard@kauaipubco.com.