May 1999

Much of the recyclable materials we collect on Oahu is shipped to markets on the mainland or in Asia, where we have no control over pricing or demand for those materials. “Closing the loop” here in Hawaii can have a stabilizing effect on local recycling programs and benefit our economy with the creation of new businesses and jobs. 

Intech, Inc., featured in this month’s Waste Line, saw a unique opportunity to manufacture a product that utilized locally-generated recycled paper and provided a recycling collection system for used oil. Other such entrepreneurial members of the Partnership include Hawaiian Earth Products and Kalaheo Green Waste Recycling Facility who turn our yard waste into mulch and compost, Aloha Plastic Recycling who re-manufactures our milk jugs into recycled plastic lumber, Recycling Systems Hawaii who creates crushed glass garden sculptures from bottles and jars, and Unitek who transforms old tires into playground and landscaping products and fuel for energy production. 

Continued success in recycling will require creative thinking, engineering and business management to reutilize waste materials in manufacturing new products. Many new product ideas are developing right here in Hawaii. My thanks to the members of the Partnership for leading the way.—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.






RE-MADE IN HAWAII
City’s Oil Change Box Promotion Taps Local Manufacturer 

Bernie Boltz got into the recycling business by accident. Ten years ago, he was sitting in his garage trying to come up with some money for lunch. He knew he wanted to go into manufacturing, but what about Hawaii‘s astronomical shipping and materials costs? He needed to get his hands on raw materials at little or no cost.

Boltz decided on molded paper goods (egg cartons and the like), which could be made from discarded office paper. So, in 1989, Confidential Records Destruction was born. With help from partners Chris DiSante and Jack Harmon, the paper shredding business operated out of that same garage where Boltz’s rumbling stomach inspired him months before. The document destruction service paid for the base materials needed to create molded paper products. 

Boltz continued experimenting until his wife began to resent the paper piling up in the living room. So in 1990, housed in its new 4,000 sq-ft warehouse on Koapaka St. and now part of the parent company Boltz created called Intech, the business slowly grew.

Then, in 1992, Intech received a boost from the City’s used motor oil recycling program. The program created a need for a new product called an Oil Change Box, which was then being shipped in from the Mainland. It could be made from recycled paper products. Boltz seized the opportunity, bought out the Mainland manufacturer and began making the boxes here. Today, Intech sells approximately 6,000 Oil Change Boxes per month, which protect the environment by keeping motor oil out of our soil and water. 

Starting May 15 the City is launching another phase of its used oil recycling program, promoting the use of the oil change boxes by offering them to do-it-yourself mechanics for free. Boxes made by Intech and by a mainland firm, Kafko, will be available at over 90 retailers on Oahu while supplies last. Not only are they the easiest way to change oil at home, they also complete the cycle by absorbing the used motor oil into a solid, which means it can be picked up with regular household trash and “recycled” at the H-POWER waste-to-energy plant.

Boltz says in the early years, he didn’t even make minimum wage. Intech now supports eight families and is enjoying its best year yet. And Boltz envisions countless other innovative uses for the dry fiber he’s creating from recycled paper. All of them will reduce Hawaii’s dependence on shipping, lessen the amount of trash going into our waste stream, and further complete the cycle of recycling.



Bernie Boltz, Intech, Inc.

 


Chris DiSante, Intech, Inc.