High cost of trash

LIHUE — Like a giant rubbish bin stuffed to the brim, Kauai’s landfill is nearly chock-full. It’s a several hundred million dollar problem with a solution as clear as it is complex: The island’s 81,000 tons of annual waste need a new burial ground.

“This is our single largest public works project for Kauai County — ever,” said Lyle Tabata, Kauai County’s deputy director of public works.

The existing landfill in Kekaha has about 10 years of life left before it reaches capacity. A decade might seem like ample time to build a new landfill — until you consider that this lifespan estimate is dependent on a very big “if.”

If — and only if — the island can successfully implement an aggressive series of recycling programs geared at achieving a 70 percent waste diversion rate by 2020, the Kekaha landfill has about 10 years of life left.

It’s a tall order. Kauai’s current waste diversion rate falls at about 45 percent.

But it’s not necessarily out of reach. In 2002, the island’s estimated diversion rate was 22 percent. By 2008, it was 29 percent.

The rate has been steadily climbing ever since.

If we can recycle our way to a world where the island’s annual waste total has decreased by about 25,000 tons, or about 29 percent, then the Kekaha landfill shouldn’t max out before mid-2026. That’s when the county plans to shutter the landfill to the tune of about $15 million. After that, the estimated annual cost of post-closure monitoring and maintenance settles in around $625,000.

Shuttered landfills can generally be folded back into the fabric of public use. On Oahu, for example, Kakaako Waterfront Park is 35 acres of grassy hills atop the site of a former municipal landfill. What’s in store for Kekaha’s landfill once it’s been properly shutdown is still unknown.

A replacement landfill is something Tabata said will likely have a price tag totaling several hundred million dollars. Right now, the county is working on drafting an Environmental Impact Statement, wildlife hazard assessment and traffic study for its new landfill proposal.

Officials are also hustling to secure funding for the construction of the facility. The county is examining a range of funding options, including grants, low-interest loans and bond floats.

“Since we are a ways out yet the exact source is not known,” Tabata said.

All studies under way are being funded with a 2010 bond as a capital improvement plan expenditure, he said.

The project’s high expense isn’t the only reason why building a new landfill will be complicated. It’s been hard to find a landowner willing to host the site of a new landfill, Tabata said, and perhaps even harder to win the support of residents in communities nearby the site that’s currently being considered.

Part of the traffic study the county is working on analyzes the prospect of building a new road for trucks to travel to and from the landfill, so that residents in the area won’t be impacted by the additional traffic.

“It’s NIMBY,” Tabata explained, using a popular acronym for “not in my backyard.” “The community is going to say they don’t care, do it at any cost. But in the end it’s going to impact them because the fees will have to be higher.

“In engineering, you can design anything. But the question is at what cost.”

A new dump site

As it turns out, it’s not easy to find a property owner willing to house a new dump site. A search led by the county that began in the late 1990s has yielded just one potential taker: the state of Hawaii.

An undeveloped land plot in Maalo owned by the state is the number one — and only — contender.

“This was the only willing landowner for this project,” Tabata said. “It’s the only option we have. Everyone else told us, ‘No, no, go away.’”

The Maalo property is smack between Lihue and Hanamaulu, toward the island’s interior.

Tabata said it’s his hope that the county can work out a deal with the state to operate a new landfill on the site for free.

The 270-acre site would be developed incrementally, starting with 70 acres that should be fit to handle the island’s waste for more than 100 years. The full site, Tabata said, should have a life of about 300 years before reaching capacity.

The state Department of Health will need to give the project final approval before any work can begin.

“If we are allowed to build it there, this will be the last landfill on this island,” Tabata said. “Because I imagine in the next 25 years there will be some new technology developed to deal with this better than we have been.”

How to get there

Four main routes have been proposed to transport trash to the landfill, according to the Potential Access Routes and Study Intersection Locations for the New Kauai Landfill Traffic and Roadways Engineering Feasibility Study.

The first begins at the intersection of Maalo Road and Kuhio Highway, near Lihue. The route follows Maalo Road inland before taking a sharp left to the site. According to the feasibility study, this route would require significant intersection changes and an estimated $35 million in infrastructure improvements.

This route is just under 5 miles long and is the second-longest route. It avoids residential areas, but the study says the truck traffic could impact tourist traffic to Wailua Falls.

The next proposed route begins at Ehiku Street and Kuhio Highway. The route would follow Ehiku until it intersects with Maalo Road, and then continues along the first route’s path.

That route passes through a retail part of town, as well as a residential area, for nearly 6 miles and is the longest proposed route. The anticipated infrastructure improvements would total around $42 million.

The third route would begin at Laulima Street and Kuhio Highway, and follow Laulima until it connects with Roberts Hawaii Driveway. That route passes near Kauai Backcountry Adventures. It is just under two miles in length and infrastructure improvements are estimated to total $12 million.

The last route begins at the intersection of Roberts Hawaii Driveway and Kuhio Highway in Hanamaulu. The route would follow the Roberts Hawaii Driveway for a little under 2 miles before it sweeps inward and to the landfill. It passes near the Kalepa Village Apartments and the cost is still being determined. According to Mary Daubert, county spokeswoman, the results of a current study will detail that information in the spring.

Recycling for the future

At the same time that the county is striving to divert more waste by ramping up recycling, the island’s annual waste tonnage is rising.

A recession will typically cause landfill intake to drop fairly significantly, Tabata said. Likewise, in a good economy, the average annual intake at the landfill increases.

Major construction projects, like the planned redevelopment of the historic Coco Palms Resort, also contribute significantly to the island’s waste tonnage.

“The amount increases when the economy is up because more people spend, more people visit, more people move to Kauai and there’s more construction,” Tabata said.

Right now, there are no regulations governing whether and what businesses and construction companies recycle. But Tabata said his department is working to get new ordinances on the books that will require businesses and construction companies to recycle certain materials.

“We’re hoping to get this done by spring so Coco Palms will have to comply,” Tabata said.

Other new or planned efforts to boost islandwide recycling include a “pay as you throw” system for residential refuse hauling, which encourages waste reduction through economic incentive, and adding blue recycling carts and green yard waste carts at the curb.

The program’s initiation cost estimate for curbside recycling and green waste collection is nearly $8 million and includes the procurement of nine collection trucks, 39,000 recycling carts, six truck drivers and a public education program, Tabata said.

Allison Fraley, the county’s solid waste program development coordinator, said that in the long term the county plans to also add food waste collection to the curbside program. It’s a method she says is successful in communities such as San Francisco which have exceeded 70 percent waste diversion.

In recent years, the list of items that can be regularly recycled on Kauai has grown, Fraley said. Mixed paper, steel cans, household batteries and propane tanks are among the newer items on the list.

Kauai’s recycling gets shipped to some far-flung places, which means it’s not always a financially viable means of getting rid of things. But, then again, neither is sinking it into the county’s now-bulging landfill.

Metals, white paper and some clear plastics go to China. Other materials go to the Mainland.

“It’s expensive because we live on an island and our critical mass doesn’t make it cost-effective,” Tabata said. “But you have to pay to do the right thing. People ask, ‘What’s the price to live in paradise?’ We have to be sustainable and take care of this place.”