Recycling on Kauai
Introduction
In the face of the climate crisis, social justice movements and the COVID-19 pandemic, it has never been more important to promote sustainability, equality and self-sufficiency on Kaua’i. We must retire outdated systems and become more locally self-sufficient, meet previous sustainability goals and make new resolutions leading the way to a sustainable island.
We have the opportunity to create and implement a truly sustainable Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan that will help us become a Zero Waste community. Central to such a plan is the establishment of Curbside Recycling and the construction of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) without which Curbside Recycling is not feasible.
Per Kauaʻi Countyʻs planning process, Kauaʻiʻs Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, as a county functional plan, must align with the recently updated Kauaʻi General Plan (KGP). The No.1 goal of the Kauaʻi General Plan is “A sustainable island.” (KGP, pp. 22-23)
This case presentation will show that with careful planning and political will, Curbside Recycling and a MRF are the “low-hanging fruit” in creating a sustainable zero waste society on Kauaʻi.
Recycling and Sustainability
The finite quantity of most natural resources and the infinite thirst for the same has made recycling the proxy for the sustainability movement. The isolated nature of an island community like Kauaʻi magnifies the issues of disposal and waste. Unlike many cities and counties on the mainland, Kauaʻi cannot simply haul trash to another location outside its jurisdiction.
What is consumed on island must be disposed on island – and space is limited.
Benefits of Curbside Recycling and a MRF
Recycling is recognized as the cornerstone of sustainability and it is important to acknowledge that the benefits reach far beyond reducing the amount of waste that is sent to the landfill.
‘True cost’ of Solid Waste Management and ‘true value’ of recycling, must take into account all categories of sustainability indicators.
- Recycling diverts resources from the landfill, thus conserving capacity of existing landfill and extending life of the landfill
- Curbside pick-up of recyclables provides convenience and encourages higher recycling rates, while reducing travel emissions
- Conserves natural resources such as forests, water and minerals
- Increases economic security and local self-reliance by producing a domestic source of materials
- Prevents pollution that results from extraction of raw materials
- Saves energy that is used to extract raw materials and manufacture goods
- Byproducts from recycling are assets
- Generates jobs during construction (estimated at 30) and operation (15-20) as well as small businesses in the recycling and manufacturing industries
Curbside Recycling on Kauaʻi
Curbside Recycling cannot be implemented without a Materials Recovery Facility.
In the 2009 Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, the MRF is identified as a “necessary prerequisite to Curbside Recycling”. Together the MRF and Curbside Recycling will provide the Zero Waste infrastructure to divert approximately 15,000 tons of resources each year from the landfill–approximately 33% of the current waste stream disposed of in the landfill.
Waste Characterization
Kaua`i County had a Waste Characterization study done in 2016. The samples collected were analyzed and used to create an assessment of the waste generated and disposed of by material and class. These figures are used to calculate the tonnage and rates of potential resources the county throws away.
Potential Diversion
There is potential to process six generic sources of recyclables, namely:
- Residential Source-Separated Commingled Recyclables (paper and containers)
- Commercial Source-Separated Commingled Recyclables (paper and containers)
- Commercial Source-Separated Corrugated Fiber (OCC)
- Commercial Source-Separated Glass (mixed color)
- Redemption Center Source-Separated, Individual Material Types (e.g., separate loads of aluminum beverage cans, of mixed PET/HDPE beverage containers (or of PET and of HDPE containers individually), and of mixed-color glass beverage containers)
- Dropoff Program Source-Separated, Individual Material Types
Need for Improvement
The “cleaner” the streams, the less contaminated the bales of material = highest value for recycled product. The primary reason for a MRF is to separate mixed (commingled) recyclable material into separate resource streams, removing any contaminants, consolidating (baling, shredding) the clean material, and storing it until sufficient quantities are accumulated for shipment. Commingled recyclables collected as part of a curbside collection program would be processed at the MRF. The facility would be sized and designed to handle both the residential and commercial recycle stream.
ALL Recyclable Materials Recovered with
- Materials Recovery Facility MRF
- Composting Facility
- Food Scrap (Organics)
- Green Waste
What is a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF)?
A Materials Recovery Facility (MRF – “Murf”) is essential for efficient residential and commercial recycling. A MRF is a facility where commingled materials from collected recyclables are processed and prepared for shipment downstream to recyclers of the particular recovered materials.
The MRF uses a combination of equipment and manual labor to separate and densify materials to ensure that recyclable materials are efficiently processed to meet the specifications established by the end user. Typical materials recovered at MRFs include ferrous metal, aluminum, glass, PET, HDPE, and mixed paper.
“Clean” MRF handles the contents of commingled recycling bins that consist mostly of recyclable materials
“Dirty” MRF or Mixed Waste Processing Facility (MWPF) processes household or commercial trash that most likely contains a low percentage of recyclables – and must be designed and sized to receive and process the entire municipal waste stream.
Single Stream: Commingle all recyclables for further separation at the MRF.
Dual Stream: Two separate recycling streams. Commingled containers (alum, glass, plastics) and Mixed paper (news, cdbd, office, magazines)
How Does a MRF Work?
A materials recovery facility receives commingled materials and separates out and bales the recyclables. MRFs have customer vehicle scales and a yard that can accommodate a queue of trucks. Incoming haulers arrive at the MRF and dump the commingled material onto the tipping floor. A front end loader or other bulk material handler then drops it into a large steel bin at the start of the processing line. This bin is known as the drum feeder.
Inside of the drum feeder, a fast-moving drum meters out the commingled material onto the conveyor at a steady rate while also regulating the density of the material on the conveyor so that it is not packed too tightly together.
The modern MRF has evolved from a simple manual sorting line, into an operation where 50% to 75% of the separation is managed by mechanical devices. Depending upon volumes and types of materials handled newer MRFs may use magnets (ferrous metals), eddy current separators (aluminum), air classifiers (plastic containers) or other mechanical or electronic systems to simplify manual separation.
Larger pieces of cardboard are removed from the mixed material stream, pushed to the top by large sorting disks turning on axles, while heavier material stays beneath. Smaller sets of sorting disks may then remove smaller pieces of paper. As materials are separated, they are diverted to separate conveyors for accumulation and baling.
Powerful magnets separate steel and tin containers, while an eddy current separator is used to draw aluminum cans and other non-ferrous metals from the remaining commingled material. Glass containers can be separated from plastic containers by a density blower, then hammered into the crushed glass known as cullet.
Material Recovery Facility for Kaua’i
Background and History
- 2009 Acting Integrated Solid Waste Management Management Plan (aka Beck Plan)
- 2011 Kaua’i County Zero Waste Resolution
- 2013 Kaua’i Resource Recovery Park Feasibility Study
- 2014 Kaua’i County signed Aloha+ Challenge
- 2016 Traffic Assessment Report
- 2016 Environmental Assessment of Material Recovery Facility
- 2016 Conceptual Design of Material Recovery Facility
- 2017 Waste Characterization Study
- 2018 Kaua’i County General Plan
- 2018 China’s National Sword policy banned the import of recyclables
- 2021 Adoption of New Integrated Solid Waste Management Management Plan
Recycling – The County has a voluntary recycling program (i.e., residents are not mandated to recycle). Currently there are eight drop-off sites in the County for the collection of the following items generated by residents: Corrugated cardboard, glass bottles and jars, household metals, plastic bottles and jugs, and mixed paper including newspaper and boxboard. The County has a contract with Garden Isle Disposal (GID) to operate the program which includes providing and maintaining the recycling drop bins, hauling recyclables when the bins are full, collecting office paper from the County’s office buildings, processing all materials, and marketing the materials. (Jacobs Draft 2020 ISWMP)
Currently Garden Isle Disposal (GID) is the only recycle processor operating in the County; this facility is not designed to accept commingled residential recyclables. The sorting of their drop bins is done manually by sorting through bins emptied on the warehouse bay floor.