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<br />7. Accelerate composting. <br /> <br />Composting offers opportunities to create a value-added product that can increase food production, <br />mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and treat organic materials as resources. In relation to plastic <br />source reduction, the use of compost leads to healthier soils, which can expand opportunities for <br />local food production and reduce the necessity for packaged imports to our state. As plastics are <br />phased out of waste streams, compostable alternatives will likely increase, and will require further <br />study. <br /> <br />Discussion <br />Composting can exist across scale. The Working Group recommends that the State take action to <br />not only promote composting but prioritize its growth. There are 20 permitted composting facilities <br />in the state, with three additional applications currently with the DOH. More can be done to <br />accelerate composting in Hawaii. Regionalized and community-based composting has an <br />opportunity to build healthier food systems, reduce transportation burden, pilot compostable <br />container decomposition, reduce large infrastructure costs, and be phased in over time. The <br />following non-comprehensive list of actions is recommended to advance composting and create <br />more resilient systems: <br /> <br /> Create small composting pilot projects with schools, farms, non-profits, and businesses to <br />install in-vessel systems that will serve their specific communities; <br /> Fund pilot projects on all islands through grants; <br /> Provide tax incentives to residents and businesses who set up community compost systems; <br /> Revise composting permit applications to encourage greater small-scale participation; <br /> Recognize that there are differing health and environmental concerns and controls <br />associated with differing solid waste management facilities, therefore solid waste <br />management facilities should not be treated in the same manner. Act 73, Session Laws of <br />Hawaii 2020, which modifies HRS 183C-4 and HRS 342H-52, exemplifies the <br />consequences of composting being on the same level of concern as landfilling; <br /> Review and update composting regulations to more clearly identify varying types of <br />operations while ensuring public health and the environment remains protected; and/or <br /> Further study the life cycle of compostable products and better understand their ability to <br />properly breakdown and their chemical composition. <br /> <br />8. Undertake a fair and careful study of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). <br /> <br />Discussion <br />EPR is a policy approach to waste reduction that encourages manufacturers to design <br />environmentally friendly products by holding them responsible for the costs of managing their <br />products at the end of life. EPR shifts the economic burden of the cost of disposal, recycling, and <br />cleanup from the government to the producer of the product. According to the Organization for <br />Economic Co-operation and Development, assigning such responsibility could in principle provide <br />incentives to prevent wastes at the source, promote product redesign for environmental protection, <br /> <br />and support public recycling and materials management goals. <br /> <br />The study should include a comprehensive legislation and literature review on the impacts of a <br />possible EPR is study should incorporate lessons learned and <br />discussions from other states and the federal government that have been pursuing parallel efforts <br />to implement EPR. <br /> <br />9 <br /> <br /> <br />