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 incineration of trash as an option to manage our solid waste.
Who We Are
The Coalition for Climate Common Sense is a united front in opposition to stopping county-sanctioned incineration of solid waste on Kauai. We are composed of Surfrider Kauai, Surfrider Hawaii Region, Zero Waste Kauai, Sierra Club of Kauai, and the Kauai Climate Action Coalition.
Why We Oppose WTE
WTE is harmful to our economy, our health, and the environment, and will contribute to the financial and social impacts of climate change.
Incineration is Harmful to our Economy:
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.