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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0175.000 2020-2022 Mitchell D.Roth :.°"tY of y'!; `•' �,I�;?' Ramzi I.Mansour �� Mayor ; ' Director Lee E.Lord ' N°�'''�'�- Brenda D.lokepa-Moses E OF Managing Director Deputy Director CountyofHawaVi DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 345 Kekuanao`a Street,Suite 41• Hilo, Hawaii 96720 Ph:(808)961-8083• Fax: (808)961-8086 Email: cohdem@hawaiicounty.gov March 9 2021 s MEMORANDUM TO: Maile David, Council Chair Ory `«':... and Members of the Hawai`i County Council :. .. FROM: Ramzi I. Mansour, Director a Department of Environmental Management RE: A Resolution Authorizing the Acceptance of the 2019 Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan Update for the County of Hawai`i. Please see the attached resolution and exhibits for consideration on the next available appropriate Committee agenda. The County of Hawai`i, in accordance with Hawai`i Revised Statutes Chapter 342G, has completed the Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan(Plan)update, which occurs every 10 years. The Plan update evaluates solid waste management in the County, including waste reduction practices and programs, opportunities for recycling, implementation of zero waste policies and practices,the status of active and closed landfills, and options for increasing landfill diversion. Each chapter contains a summary of the 2009 Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan(ISWMP)recommendations and the status of each one; a description of the existing conditions; a discussion of options available to the County to improve the solid waste management program; and finally, recommendations to implement selected options. In 2007,the County Council adopted Resolution 356-07,to "embrace and adopt the principles of zero waste as a long-term goal for Hawai`i County" and the County subsequently developed a Zero Waste Implementation Plan in 2008. As stated in the resolution,the County of Hawai`i recognizes, "that zero waste is a long-term goal and that in the interim,programs may need to be implemented that may be counter to the zero waste philosophy and are necessary to reach the long-term goal of zero waste and that such programs should not be prohibited by the embracing. and adoption of the long-term goal of zero waste." The County will continue to take incremental steps toward achieving zero waste in the long term with the understanding that the ability to truly achieve zero waste is realistically challenging for an island. Comm. No. 11 5 Ref.To: biweg � Ref. Date MAR 1 2 2021 County of Hawaii is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer The 2019 Plan update began in the spring of 2018 and involved meetings that included the Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC) and the County of Hawai'i Solid Waste Division(SWD) of the Department of Environmental Management(DEM). The last update of the Plan was produced in 2009. The SWAC was appointed by the Mayor,participated in 13 meetings, toured facilities, reviewed each draft Plan chapter, debated key issues, developed plan goals (provided in Chapter 1) and shaped recommendations. Public input was welcome throughout the process in a variety of ways including monthly SWAC meetings; routine posting of all draft documents, agendas, and meeting minutes to the County's online records archive; and two informal public informational meetings. Following review and comment by the State of Hawai`i Department of Health(HDOH),the proposed Plan was made available for public review for 60 days, which included two public hearings. Meeting minutes,testimony, comments, responses, etc. are included in the appendices. With the closure of South Hilo Sanitary Landfill, deteriorating global recycling markets, and fiscal concerns,the Plan update focuses on waste diversion, with an emphasis on education, outreach, and public awareness. Outside of maintaining or improving existing facilities,the Plan does not generally recommend the construction of new facilities or operations. Instead,the County will assess how the existing facilities and programs are functioning and to identify solutions best suited to current and projected future conditions. This includes seeking joint solutions with state and other Hawaiian jurisdictions. During the Plan update,the SWAC identified and rated 83 recommendations and associated implementation strategies, using a high, moderate, or low to prioritize. The categories were: Source Reduction; Recycling Bioconversion, and Markets; Recycling, Bioconversion, and Markets; Education, Outreach, and Public Awareness; Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)/Electronic Waste (E-Waste); Special Waste; Collection and Transfer; Residuals Management; and Administration and Funding. To further prioritize, each SWAC member was tasked to identify their top five recommendations or themes. Recommendations that received a number one ranking were weighted(scored)higher than those that received a number five ranking. Additionally, because some of the recommendations are thematically similar,they were combined. Of the 83 recommendations, six recommendations or themes were identified by more than one SWAC member as priorities. The top six recommendations identified by the SWAC are: • Conduct education, outreach, and public awareness—multiple recommendations. • Regularly review and, when appropriate,renegotiate WHSL contract—Chapter 10, Recommendation 2. • Conduct additional household hazardous waste (HHW) collection events—Chapter 6, Recommendation 5. • Change County code to allow small businesses to drop off recyclables at recycling and transfer stations—Chapter 8, Recommendation 5. • Establish goals that are expressed and measured in terms of environmental impacts (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions,toxicity, energy use) and consider full life cycle impacts, in County of Hawai'i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer. addition to tonnage-based landfill diversion or waste recovery goals—Chapter 4, Recommendation 5. • Develop County policy and ordinances related to source reduction and recycling— Chapter 3, Recommendation 1; Chapter 4, Recommendation 1. Because of COVID-related delays affecting the final publication of this Plan,the Department would like to clarify that the data referenced in Chapter 10, Subchapter 10.3, "Existing Conditions," and elsewhere presented as current, should be considered current at the time the Plan was developed, rather than the conditions that exist in early 2021. With that understanding, I am respectfully requesting a positive recommendation of the attached Plan. County of Hawai'i is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.