2020-02-26 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

• He explained how waste composition studies are done, how samples are taken, and how they are snapshots in time. They did not spent money on a waste composition study, because they have enough good data. In ten years, the community may decide another study is warranted. • Funding is a challenge for the county’s recycling and waste diversion programs. The budgets for some of the programs have been reduced the last few years. The department is doing a lot, recognizes the community impact, and is working in the long run to make the program better, despite the negative press out there. • There is a Master Recycler Program now under development, which will be reaching out to organizations and others to bring their expertise and enthusiasm to work with the community and have a bigger impact. • He explained the changes to the 2-bin recycling program. They are learning that more communication with the other islands is needed and that they should recommend legislation rather than only respond to it. • On the positive side, contamination has gone down, source separation has been better, and the corrugated cardboard volume is up. • Even though the county is not taking certain items any more, Business Services Hawaiʻi s?ll does, at their Shipman Industrial Park location. • The greenwaste and mulch programs are very successful. The mulch is in such high demand that they are constantly running out. • The Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan is being finished up. They received more comments than expected, and it was good for the community to come out and voice their thoughts and concerns. The SWAC will be going through the comments at their meeting this afternoon. • He explained where they are in the process of the plan and the plan’s contents. Once the SWAC approves the plan, it will go to the County Council for approval, and then the state. It is hoped the recommendations will get included in the budget and actually implemented. • After 13 meetings, 83 recommendations were identified by the SWAC. The members ultimately came up with the top six recommendations, which are: ◦ do more education and outreach ◦ renegotiate the contract with Waste Management Hawaiʻi ◦ hold additional household hazardous waste collection events ◦ change the County Code to allow small businesses to drop off recyclables at recycling and transfer stations ◦ establish goals that are expressed and measured in terms of environmental impacts and consider full life cycle impacts, in addition to tonnage-based landfill diversion or waste recovery goals. ◦ develop county policy and ordinances related to source reduction and recycling. Mr. Hayducsko said they are having two presentations, on March 2 and 4, 2020, on the reusable food service ware container system for takeout food in Hilo. 8