2021-08-25 EMC minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Lowen said with the reduction in recycling. People want to recycle, and education is important to a certain degree, because a lot of people don’t even know that the Hilo landfill is closed. They don’t even know that the trash is going to Kona. They have no idea that we are spending all of this money and all of this gas getting our trash to the landfill in Kona. If people actually knew that basic information, it might actually change their habits as well. But going back to her question, is it possible, even though it might be a union issue, to have a volunteer group? Or could the County contract a volunteer group so that the County is not having to pay to staff more people? Because money is always an issue. She just wanted to throw that out there, is that a possibility? Chair Adams asked Ms. Berrig to address the Master Recycler Composter program. Ms. Berrig said this addresses the Reuse Centers more. Before COVID-19 we were just getting started working toward a Master Recycler Composter program, a mirror of many across the country. Essentially, volunteers get about 20 hours of training in anything waste diversion related. So after the training, then they would basically pay it forward through volunteering in the community, and then they become certified as a Master Recycler Composter. So COVID-19 comes in, and then it has just been a matter of staffing for us here to complete. Zoom seems to be a great reality that we have now, which is wonderful because it makes the trainings easier. The volunteer aspect gets a little more difficult with COVID-19 because with the perspective of it being a County program, the issue with supporting something where there’s close contact with people, so there is the liability issue, of course. There was a question about whether it is a union issue, and she kept saying it’s a volunteer program. They would not be competing. So it is something that is in the hopper. She would love just to work on that for a month, but unfortunately we have some big changes in our division. The people could easily volunteer at the Reuse Centers. And another issue that comes along with the long lines is people see there’s no line at the recycle bins, so they toss their rubbish there, which creates all the contamination and why the global situation happened in the first place with the movement of trash. So it’s on the table, it’s a staffing issue for the Department to get the program up and running. Commissioner Olson said that regard to the design of the transfer stations, for the ones in Puna, one of the major problems is they are pull-in as opposed to pull through. If the drop-off vehicle were in a line and moved in one direction, you could double or triple the number of vehicles that could move through the system. And the persons who did the designs for it didn’t want to hear it at the time, and we got what we got. Chair Adams said she would like to collect some questions that we should give to the Department, dealing with transfer stations and the issues, and the ability to find some cost savings there. One would be the simple question, why are the lines so long? Do you know? And see what they come back with. Commissioner Olson said for Puna that’s an easy answer, our population has exploded. You have to get out on the highway in order to get to the largest transfer station in the district. And instead of putting the transfer stations in the subdivisions, primarily the two largest 15