Incineration aka Waste-to-Energy

WTE will increase the cost to dispose of solid waste by 200 – 300%, according to the county’s 2021 Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan. According to Waste to Energy International, a pro-incineration organization, the construction of a plant to manage Kauai’s 100,000 tons of undiverted solid waste would cost over $80,000,000.
An additional insidious cost of WTE is the “Put or Pay” contract associated with the operation. These contracts require the local municipality to guarantee a minimum amount of solid waste for incineration or pay a pre-set fine to the facility.
Honolulu has paid over $6.2 million in fines between 2013 and 2016, and about $750,000 between 2018 and 2019, according to Honolulu Civil Beat, https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/04/the-trash-that-fuels-oahus-power-plant-is-vanishing-as-fast-as-the-tourists/.
Harrisburg PA, over $400 million in debt, filed for bankruptcy after trash incineration creditors tagged the city with debts more than four times its annual budget, according to the NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/13/us/harrisburg-pennsylvania-files-for-bankruptcy.html. Can Kauai afford the financial risk associated with WTE, given our small size, and the reasonable possibility that future efforts to mitigate climate change will be directed at a reduction in our solid waste stream?
WTE facilities create only 5 – 10% of the jobs as recycling. This is a substantial loss for a community where employment diversity is limited. https://www.no-burn.org/wp-content/uploads/GAIA-Facts-about-WTE-incinerators-Jan2018-1.pdf.
WTE is not compatible with our visitor destination image. Tourism drives our economy, but a large smokestack on the west side plain is not going to help maintain visitor levels.

Coalition for Climate Common Sense

Position Statement: The Coalition for Climate Common Sense stands firmly against Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plants and programs, and asks the County of Kauai to eliminate the…

Read More
Scroll to Top