2020-06-24 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Procurement Code follows the state and is contained in Chapter 103D of the Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes. • Commissioner Adams asked about the status of Puna Precious Plastics, and Commissioner Cardwell said she heard it has shut down during the pandemic. She will find out the status and report back at the next meeting. • Chair Pequeño was curious about what mechanisms the county has in terms of supporting or initiating new business development in the area of alternative uses for waste. • Director Kucharski clarified that the county is not a recycler. It facilitates the recycling sites and has contracts with private entities for the actual recycling. The county has a relatively small waste stream, considering the size of investments that would need to be made. The demographics make it difficult to come up with a cost-effective recycling program, and we don’t have the infrastructure or population to support major investment. We have to be careful what we do, evaluate what we have, and come up with cost-effective solutions. • Commissioner Adams said one reason she tracks alternative recycling technologies is to see if they could be scaled to a smaller operation that could work on the island. • Chair Pequeño said a way to encourage that type of business needs to be found, and he wondered if DEM should pursue working with R&D on this. Commissioner Adams pointed out that Councilmember Richards’ resolution was about coming up with ideas with R&D and DEM for using waste and generating energy, and he wanted to see what innovative ideas they could come up with. • Director Kucharski said smaller systems are being looked at, and he would like to see them go from waste to hydrogen. If these kinds of opportunities are to be encouraged, he feels that fiscal support from the state could possibly be in the form of tax credits a company could use. The county’s only income stream is from property tax, with some TAT and GET monies from the state. He firmly believes our county needs to be sustainable. It is doable, but the right way needs to be found. • Commissioner Gaffney said a problem with electronics recycling here is that the only take-back provisions are Oʻahu-centric. He reached out to Rep. David Tarnas, suggesting he look into how take-back provisions can be applied to the Big Island. • Commissioner Burns said it would be interesting to learn how the experimental hydrogen production facility at NELHA is doing. Chair Pequeño said he would table this agenda item for the next meeting and suggested the commissioners do some research on these different issues. b. Continued discussion on U.S. Supreme Court ruling on County of Maui vs. Hawaiʻi Wildlife Fund and report of subcommittee’s draft letter to the Director and County Council regarding solutions for reclaimed water. 4