Tour de Trash 2008

FREE Tour Series

Introduction
Tour Schedule/Registration
Virtual Tour
Costs and Sponsors
History

Introduction

Tour de Trash is in its tenth year, and those interested know they better reserve their seat quickly. Buses are usually fully booked within a couple weeks with long wait lists for each tour. It’s surprising how many people are interested in getting up-close and personal with our trash.

And that’s good, because we face some challenges in waste management and need to be knowledgeable in determining future directions. On an island, land is one of our most precious resources, and reducing our use of landfills is a critical goal of our waste management strategy. In order to move forward successfully with major recycling initiatives and alternative technologies, it’s imperative that we engage the public in intelligent discussion. Raising public awareness of our opala– through Tour de Trash, our opala.org website and other educational programs – helps to facilitate better public discussions and decision-making on recycling and waste management initiatives.

“How we manage our island’s waste today will affect generations to come. The more we know about the technology and programs, the better equipped we are to participate in the discussions about our directions. Tour de Trash offers an opportunity to get an up-close look at the recycling and waste processing technology in operation on Oahu today and peek behind those ‘Employees Only’ doors at island businesses that have instituted successful recycling programs. Let’s work together to do right for Hawaii. It’s our opala, our home, our responsibility.” – Mayor Mufi Hannemann.

Oahu’s annual recycling rates have increased six-fold from approximately 100,000 tons in 1990 to more than 600,000 tons today. Based on a total waste stream of 1.76 million tons annually, that’s a 35 percent recycling rate – well above the national average of 27-32 percent. Combined with waste-to-energy, Oahu’s landfill diversion rate is at 57 percent, again exceeding the national average of 41-44 percent.

There is more to accomplish, and the job gets tougher as we reach for higher diversion rates. Public awareness through programs such as Tour de Trash is critical to moving any new initiatives forward.

Tour de Trash is a collaborative event, coordinated by the City and supported by island businesses engaged in recycling at many levels.

Tour Schedule

FREE Tour Series (January - December 2008)

Tour 1: Workplace Recycling I (Thursday, January 17, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Sheraton Waikiki).
Tour 2: Wastewater Treatment (Thursday, March 20, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Kapolei Hale).
Tour 3: Recycled Products (Thursday, May 22, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Kapolei Hale).
Tour 4: Construction and Demolition (Thursday, July 17, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Kapolei Hale).
Tour 5: Recycling and Waste Processors (Thursday, October 23, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00p.m.; start-finish Kapolei Hale).
Tour 6: Workplace Recycling II (Thursday, November 20, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Sheraton Waikiki).

Note: Participants must show up 15-20 minutes prior to scheduled tour departure time.

Sign up for an exciting bus tour of Oahu’s trashier side. Get an up-close look at the recycling and waste processing technology in operation on Oahu and peek behind those “Employees Only” doors at island businesses that have instituted successful recycling programs.

Choose from the 6 tours below. Call 768-3200 to register. Teachers and non-profits may call for more information on custom tours.

Tour 1: Workplace Recycling I (Thursday, January 17, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Sheraton Waikiki)

Drive through the Kapaa Transfer Station on Kapaa Quarry Road, where Windward Oahu’s waste is unloaded and reloaded for transfer to disposal facilities. Back-of-the-house bins at the Hawaii Convention Center are set up to support the staff’s commitment to recycle paper, plastic, glass, metals and food waste generated by their facility. Many of the companies bringing conventions to Honolulu now demand that everything be recycled, and our convention center is ready and willing to comply. The Hilton Hawaiian Village has integrated recycling into every building and captures more than 1,000 tons of material annually. Sheraton estimates that it has saved $100,000 per year in disposal costs by implementing recycling in its five Oahu hotels and the Sheraton Waikiki is the first hotel to demonstrate the benefits of sorting waste collected from their guest rooms -- 50% is recyclable. In the basement of Honolulu Hale, you’ll see how the City has set up office paper recycling systems for its administrative buildings. Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant offers a behind-the-scenes tour of its recycling operations.

Tour 2: Wastewater Treatment (Thursday, March 20, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Kapolei Hale)

If you’ve wondered what happens to all the stuff you wash down the drain or flush down the toilet, you’ll find the answers at the Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant, where 25 million gallons per day of sewage are treated through screens, filters and clarifiers which clean and separate liquids from solids. The tour then moves over to the Honouliuli Water Reclamation Facility, where the City’s Board of Water Supply further processes the waste “water” portion into clean water, which is used for irrigation and industry. At the Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant you’ll be taken into the central control room where the entire island’s wastewater treatment operations are monitored and controlled using a high-tech, computerized SCADA system. Then over to the Synagro operations, where the sewage sludge is processed into fertilizer pellets.

Tour 3: Recycled Products (Thursday, May 22, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Kapolei Hale)

Visit Unitek Solvent Services and AES to see how Oahu’s old car tires are shredded and burned for fuel to generate electricity or ground further into crumb rubber for use in landscaping and playground surfacing. Hawaiian Earth Products grinds green waste in its huge tub grinder and then places it in long windrows for processing into “Menehune Magic” mulch and compost products. Visit Grace Pacific for the big view on batching glasphalt paving material and using recycled asphalt pavement. At Pacific Biodiesel you’ll see how they convert cooking oil and grease from island restaurants to a biodiesel fuel that can be used to power all types of diesel engine vehicles and equipment. Users report that their equipment runs well… and gives off a pleasant aroma similar to that of french fries. Take a self-guided tour of the recycled products used around the Honolulu Zoo, including glasphalt walkways, recycled plastic fencing and benches.

Tour 4: Construction and Demolition
(Thursday, July 17, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Kapolei Hale)

At Island Demo’s facility, recyclable materials are sorted from the mixed construction and demolition waste, reducing the waste headed to landfill by 40%. Island Demo also “deconstructs” as much of a building as possible onsite to recover recyclable and reusable components before demolition. Visit the Baseyard Hawaii Reuse Facility, where still-usable materials from construction and demo sites are warehoused and then channeled out to projects for reuse. Walk through mountains of metal at Schnitzer Steel Hawaii -- cars, refrigerators and demolition materials are shredded and processed for shipment to market. Grace Pacific incorporates recycled asphalt and crushed glass into their pavement material mixes. Tour Hawaiian Earth Products leeward composting facility, which has been grinding and processing green waste into mulch and compost for more than a decade.

Tour 5: Recycling and Waste Processors
(Thursday, October 23, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Kapolei Hale)

Tour the H-POWER waste-to-energy plant, which processes over 600,000 tons of Oahu’s waste annually, reducing volume by 90% and generating 7% of our island’s electricity. H-POWER extracts virtually 100% of the metals from the mixed waste for recycling and is testing a new paving material on their truck ramp that reutilizes the ash -- “ashphalt.” Take a close look at the environmental protections employed by today’s modern landfill at the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill operated by Waste Management, including complex liner and leachate catchment systems and methane recovery. Hawaiian Earth Products will showcase its grinder, windrow processing and Menehune Magic line of compost products. RRR Recycling Services will show you the sort line and processing operations for the curbside mixed recyclables collection and their HI-5 RVM (reverse vending machine) redemption center. Walk through mountains of metal at Schnitzer Steel Hawaii -- cars, refrigerators and demolition materials are shredded and processed for shipment to market. Refrigerant Recycling will show you the method for recovering and recycling freon from obsolete air conditioning units and domestic appliances.

Tour 6: Workplace Recycling II
(Thursday, November 20, 2008, 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m.; start-finish Sheraton Waikiki)

Tour the recycling operations at the Sheraton Waikiki, Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant and the Hawaii Convention Center described in Tour 1. In addition,,Young Laundry & Dry Cleaning will share how it worked through the challenges of recycling wire hangers and also became the first Oahu company to use an alternative fuel produced by Island Commodities and made from recycled cooking oil, saving about $1,000 per week in fuel costs. At Pacific Biodiesel you’ll see how they convert cooking oil and grease from island restaurants to a biodiesel fuel that can be used to power all types of diesel engine vehicles and equipment. Users report that their equipment runs well… and gives off a pleasant aroma similar to that of french fries. You’ll tour the City’s Automotive Equipment Services (AES) facility in Halawa, and see how they recycle motor and hydraulic oil, auto batteries, ferrous metal, office paper, and even the water from washing the City vehicle fleet. Note the City vehicles at AES that are using a B20 blend (20% biodiesel).

Additional Tour Information: Tour participation is free. Space is limited, and reservations will be made on a first-come basis. Please consider your reservation a binding agreement to attend. A no-show is a seat we could have given to another participant. Register by phone at 768-3200. Tour includes round trip site-to-site transportation. Tour does not include lunch or parking expenses. Anticipate $5-$15 for lunch -- or you can brown bag it. The bus will stop in a lunch-friendly area. Parking is free at Kapolei Hale and $3 with validation at the Sheraton. Tour schedule times are approximate. Please arrive at the start-finish location 15-20 minutes before the scheduled departure time. Tour sites are subject to change.

Virtual Tour

The recycling and waste processing sites are most popular. People get to see the inner workings of the H-POWER waste-to-energy facility -- look into the furnace; peek into the RDF (refuse-derived fuel) room; see how metals are extracted from the mixed waste for recycling. They walk through a canyon of recycled paper bales at Island Recycling. They talk with the recycling facility managers, hear about their challenges, ask questions. They walk the sort line at Honolulu Recovery Systems, where the materials collected in their neighborhood recycling bins are sorted by commodity.

Just like tourists, they pose for pictures in front of the mountains of metal at Hawaii Metal Recycling and get free samples of compost at Hawaiian Earth Products.

A host of businesses take the tour groups back-of-the-house to show how they’ve instituted successful recycling programs – the Hard Rock Café, Ihilani Hotel, Kahala Hotel are among the leaders. The Sheraton Waikiki shows off its mini MRF. Young Laundry demonstrates how it put a biodiesel fuel to work.

The facilities and businesses are proud to have this opportunity to showcase their operations to a local group of interested citizens. They know as well as the City, that educating our public about the challenges we face in waste management today will provide strong public support for the next directions.

Costs and Sponsors

Tour de Trash is FREE to the public. The tour includes round trip site-to-site bus transportation. The bus stops in a lunch-friendly area and participants should anticipate spending $5 to $15 for lunch or to brown bag it. Parking at the departure sites ranges from free to $3 for the day.

Tour guides on each bus are City Department of Environmental Services staff. Each participating tour site makes their facility available to the tour group for about an hour and provides in-house staff to conduct the tour and respond to questions. Many of the tour stops offer refreshments to the tour groups as well.

Tour de Trash is promoted with print ads in all of the City’s major newspapers and on the City’s opala.org website. City staff handles registration, planning and coordination.

The City supports the costs of the buses, tour guides, promotion, registration, planning and site coordination. The participating tour sites offer their facilities and staffing resources at no charge, and are considered sponsors and partners:

Hawaii Convention Center
Hilton Hawaiian Village
Sheraton Waikiki
Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant
Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant
Honouliuli Water Reclamation Facility
City Board of Water Supply
Navy Biosolids Composting Facility
Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant
Unitek Solvent Services
AES Hawaii
Hawaiian Earth Products
Grace Pacific
Pacific Biodiesel
Island Demo
Baseyard Hawaii Reuse Facility
Schnitzer Steel Hawaii
H-POWER – Covanta Energy
Waste Management
Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill
Island Recycling
Refrigerant Recycling
Young Laundry & Dry Cleaning
Hard Rock Café
Fasi Municipal Building
City Department of Facilities Maintenance – Automotive Equipment Services

Past tour sites include:
Kahala Hotel
Ihilani Hotel
Honolulu Recovery Systems
Hickam Air Force Base
Pepsi
Queen’s Medical Center
Intech
Honolulu Zoo
Tripler Army Medical Center

History

Tour de Trash is an outgrowth of the annual Partnership for the Environment education conferences the City coordinated since 1995. These conferences were developed to educate our business community about the benefits and how-to’s of implementing recycling into their waste management practices. The partners included business leaders from hotels, restaurants, building management, food and beverage industry, dry cleaning, media, and publishers, who had become experts in recycling and were willing to share their expertise with other businesses to help them get started or improve their existing recycling programs.

The conferences were full-day events held at local hotels. Workshops ran in breakout meeting rooms morning and afternoon, with an awards luncheon midday to recognize new members and outstanding recycling programs. The partners presented their programs in video, PowerPoint and display boards. And because each conference was held at a Partner hotel, the conference included a back-of-the-house tour of the hotel’s recycling operation.

People commented repeatedly on how they learned so much from the tour.

In 1998 when the Partner hotel site shifted out of Waikiki to the Leeward side of Oahu, where many of our recycling and waste processing operations are located, we saw an opportunity to introduce the conference attendees to a full morning of site visits to the landfill, waste-to-energy facility, composting facility, and metal recycling company. And at the end of the day, all we heard was how fabulous and educational the tour was.

We finally got it. Getting up-close and personal with trash and having the opportunity to speak with the managers onsite was far more vivid than watching it in a slide show.

In 1999 we launched the first Tour de Trash – an open house of all our Partner businesses and facilities. Instead of bringing our experts into a sterile workshop room to present their recycling programs, we loaded our attendees onto six buses and brought them to the Partners. Each bus toured different sites with particular industry focus – restaurant/hotel, workplace, recycled products, construction and demolition, recycling and waste processing – allowing attendees to gather as much information as possible in their area of interest.

The conference was now “all tour;” workshops were conducted on-site. The buses pulled out at 9:00 a.m. and returned around 4:00 p.m. when everyone gathered for a pau hana networking with drinks and pupus.

You would think the participants would be exhausted by a full day of trash, but as each bus unloaded, they strolled to the networking session talkative and bright-faced. They ate, drank and talked trash for a couple hours, and many of them returned the next year to take another tour.

Each year Tour de Trash has grown in popularity, beyond the business sector audience to a broad general public group, including college students, educators, senior citizens, military, state and other county government, and community leaders. The interest has been overwhelming. The 2002 tours fully booked in the first week of promotion – 300 filled our six bus tours with more than 500 on the wait list. In addition, we were receiving a growing number of requests for custom tours from school groups and organizations.

Tour de Trash 2004 evolved into a year-round, monthly tour series, including 12 full- and half-day tours, one each month, plus an additional 12 custom group tours. This enabled those interested in more than one tour to sign up for both. The City was able to provide additional special tours for teachers, school groups, solid waste advisory committees, technical associations and visiting professionals. And we are able to coordinate and staff the tours with in-house personnel resources as we now run the tours one at a time rather than six in one day. We have since eliminated the half-day tours and conduct six full-day, double size tours plus the custom tours.