2006-01-AU Audit of the County of Hawai‘i's Recycling and Diversion Grants Program

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Chapter 3 ADF — GLASS CONTAINER RECOVERY PROGRAM Audit Narrative Reuse In discussions with Department of Environmental Management (DEM) personnel, Recycling Coordinator Eileen O'Hora -Weir indicated that none of the counties has met the above -cited paving requirement in HRS §342G -86 since its codification in 1994. She cites several reasons including the lack of sufficient amounts of crushed glass at any one time to complete a project of this magnitude, the lack of contractors with specialized paving equipment, the significant cost related to procurement of said equipment, and the lack of sufficient glass to sustain future projects which would make equipment purchase feasible. In 2003, the County used a crushed glass and concrete mixture known as "glasscrete" to create surface pads for the Kea`au Recycle and Reuse Center. In an e-mail to DEM Director Barbara Bell dated March 13, 2003, DOH Recycling Coordinator Gretchen Ammerman stated: "Not only is glasscrete okay, but in the bill that became Act 176, we expanded the allowable demonstration projects to more than just glassphalt, so there is a lot of flexibility there ". Subsequently, DEM requested on November 8, 2005, and received on December 13, 2005, DOH approval to expand glasscrete pads at the Kea`au facility in fiscal year 2005 -2006. In the audit team's follow up discussions with DOH, Solid Waste Planner Lane Otsu confirms that DOH has not been enforcing the paving requirement in HRS §342G -86 and has been permitting substitute projects, but is unsure of the background or reasons for those agency decisions. The audit team contacted two Hawaii paving contractors as well as the California Department of Transportation (Cal Trans) to inquire about the use of glass in aggregate for paving. The Hawaii contractors indicated that paving costs would be excessive due to the additional time and labor required to mix crushed glass with base course. Cal Trans indicated that it had never used the mixture and did not know of studies on engineering requirements and applications for glassphalt. HRS §342G -86 also requires that the County ADF program include some form of buy -back incentive to encourage participation by the public and private contractors. In line with the State requirement, the County's ADF program contracts require that processors provide a buy -back incentive to recyclers to promote glass recycling. However, State statutes and County grant guidelines do not specify the dollar amount of the incentive or whether the incentive must be paid on all glass containers. Each year DEM issues "Glass Recycling Program Guidelines" (.ADF Guidelines) which outline the purpose, funding levels, eligibility requirements, evaluation criteria, application and operational requirements relating to the program for the fiscal year. Some highlights of the guidelines were: • For fiscal years 2003 -2004 and 2004 -2005 o A provision to "develop programs, which actively sponsor public education, increase participation in glass recycling and promote awareness of glass recovery re -use. The program shall incorporate public service announcements, flyer distribution, proper 27