January 2000

Congratulations to the Partnership for the Environment and all of its affiliate members for their success in increasing recycling on our island. Ten years ago, about 100,000 tons of material was being recycled. Today we recycle more than 500,000 tons annually. 

My thanks to the partners for their willingness to share their expertise in recycling with other island businesses and to work together to protect Hawaii’s environment. 

If your company wants to learn more about improving your recycling efforts and waste management strategies, I strongly encourage you to contact the Partnership. Their peer consultants are ready to help you.—Mayor Jeremy Harris

 

About the Partnership
The Partnership for the Environment is a coalition of businesses coordinated by the City & County of Honolulu to support recycling, waste reduction and purchasing recycled-content products. The Partnership offers resources, guides, technical assistance, a speakers bureau and peer consulting and publicly recognizes businesses for their efforts. The Partnership‘s growing coalition of peer consultants is willing to share its expertise to assist other businesses in developing intelligent recycling programs. For more information and to become a partner, call the City‘s Recycling Office at 527-5335.


Hawaii’s First-Ever Tour de Trash

November 16 was an “open house” for the Partnership for the Environment. Four bus loads of people wanting to learn more about recycling and waste management set out on a full day of site visits to partner facilities. Tour sites included hotels, restaurants, military bases, construction sites, composting sites, H-POWER waste-to-energy and recycling material processors—all members of the Partnership, all experts in recycling and waste management, and all willing to open their doors to the public 

and share tips and strategies for doing it better and protecting our environment.
If you missed this opportunity to get up-close and personal with Oahu’s recycling experts, Tour de Trash 2000 is scheduled for November. Call the Partnership at 527-5335 and ask to be added to the mailing list. In the meantime, we can send you a free copy of the RECYCLING AT WORK video, which profiles the companies and organizations that comprise the Partnership for the Environment.

At the Pepsi facility in Halawa Valley, Harry Harris shows his visitors how Pepsi densifies their aluminum cans into 100-pound cubes for recycling. Pepsi’s parking lot is the site for Hawaii’s first glasphalt paving project. Employees in the office, plant and warehouse actively recycle office paper, cardboard, glass and aluminum, and the company has changed over to reusable plastic trays for their one- and two-liter bottles.

Wolf Levine, manager of the Hard Rock Cafe in Waikiki, takes his visitors back-of-the-house and explains how their garbage dumpsters were replaced with a comprehensive recycling center. After they recycle all the food waste, glass and cardboard, there’s not much garbage left for disposal.

The tour trekked up two flights of stairs into the control room of the H-POWER waste-to-energy plant. Each year more than 600,000 tons of waste material flows through this facility, reducing the volume of waste going to landfill by 90% and producing 5% of Oahu’s electricity. H-POWER extracts virtually 100% of the metals for recycling and the ash reutilization project has moved forward to a pilot phase. A test section of the facility’s road was paved with 5% ash in the asphalt mix and is being monitored for structural performance and environmental effects.

At Hawaii Metal Recycling in Campbell Industrial Park, Jim Banigan, the guy in the cowboy hard hat, explains the mountains of metal being processed behind him. HMR has increased its metal recycling from 40,000 tons in 1991 to 118,000 tons in 1997. Every 10,000 tons of scrap metal recycled by HMR saves more than 2 million cubic feet of landfill space.

Back-of-the-house Columbia Inn, Tom Jones gives them the facts - recycling has reduced their waste hauling frequency and cost by 50%, saving $15,000 annually. Then he tells them that the key is to know what’s in your trash and instructs them in the methods for “dumpster diving.” He jumped in right after this photo was taken.

10th Annual TreeCycling Campaign 
Recycle your tree and get free mulch, too. 
Drop off your Christmas trees for chipping and composting at any of the City’s Refuse & Recycling Convenience Centers anytime, or at special TreeCycling sites Saturday, January 8 and 15. Call 527-5335 or 521-CHIP (2447) for locations and information. 

Curbside collection of trees is available in all neighborhoods with automated refuse collection. Simply set your tree at the curb for pickup on one of your regular twice-per-month yard waste collection days. Please remove all decorations and tinsel. Trees with flocking cannot be recycled.

Free mulch comprised of ground yard trimmings blended with Christmas trees will be available to the public at sites around the island during the months following Christmas. Call 527-5335 for locations.

Call 527-5335 for a free RECYCLING AT WORK video, which profiles the companies and organizations that comprise the Partnership for the Environment. Hawaii's leaders in recycling discuss how smart waste management strategies have benefitted their businesses as well as our island home. Last call to sign up for the “Tour de Trash” on November 16 and 18 for a first hand behind-the-scenes look at their recycling programs. Call 533-1292.