{"id":739,"date":"2026-06-24T10:36:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=739"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:36:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:36:47","slug":"hawaii-county-urged-to-develop-composting-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=739","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii County urged to develop composting plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A recent Hawaii County study determined that 26% of the material that ends up in the West Hawaii landfill is organic waste.<\/p>\n

Read more PUC considers liability cap, recovery fund for future Hawaii wildfires<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A recent Hawaii County study determined that 26% of the material that ends up in the West Hawaii landfill is organic waste.<\/p>\n

This includes food scarps, plant trimmings and other natural materials, all of which, if processed correctly, could be composted and used to create healthier soil and help grow more food.<\/p>\n

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However, the infrastructure to do this does not currently exist, said Justin Canelas, a member of the county Environmental Management Commission.<\/p>\n

He is hoping to help change that and will be presenting a draft of recommendations for developing a comprehensive composting plan for the county at today\u2019s commission meeting. If approved by the other commission members, it will be sent to the Department of Environmental Management in the form of a letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m hoping is that it kick-starts the process in DEM to be able to actually make good on those recommendations and start the process of formalizing an islandwide composting plan,\u201d Canelas said. \u201cBecause right now, there is no plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The draft includes several primary ideas for composting in the county. The first is to create a network of community-based composting systems across the island, instead of one large central location. Canelas said he feels this would make collection of organic materials and distribution of compost easier.<\/p>\n

\u201cDecentralized systems reduce transportation costs and emissions associated with hauling organic material long distances, build community resilience and engagement, and can be scaled and implemented more quickly than large, centralized infrastructure,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The letter also suggests exploring emerging technologies to aid in the composting processes, including in-vessel systems, which are more contained than other approaches and capable of producing composting more quickly. It also asks the county to work with the state Department of Health to reform existing regulatory barriers to implementing compost systems, which Canelas said are restrictive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if there was not such a burdensome regulatory environment for it, it would definitely incentivize counties \u2014 not just our county, but counties in general \u2014 to start investing in the infrastructure to scale up,\u201d Canelas said.<\/p>\n

He said he has spoken with community leaders on other islands about their experience trying to implement compost systems. This includes Jesse Brown-Clay, one of the founders of Compost Kauai, an organization which, until recently, ran an organic waste pick-up and composting program on that island. The operation shut down due in part to regulatory challenges and difficulty finding an economically viable model.<\/p>\n

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While he agreed with Canelas that changes need to be made at the state level in order for islandwide composting programs to be feasible, he said counties and local communities can play a role in pushing for this.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunity members coming together to put pressure or work with legislators \u2026 to have a clear message going to the state Department of Health and to the governor and state legislators \u2026 for the primary purpose of deregulating composting facilities\u201d is what is needed, Brown-Clay said.<\/p>\n

Canelas said he thinks there is community support for more widespread composting across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a will within all of our counties, and I think on a household level and on a personal level, if you were to ask people, they would say, \u2018oh, I would love to have my organics get composted.\u2019 But you know, it\u2019s easier to just throw it all into a bag and take it to the dump or burn it than it is to compost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even if it does take more effort to get up and running, Kristine Kubat, executive director of nonprofit Recycle Hawaii, said developing a comprehensive compost program is a worthwhile endeavor, especially in the face of climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s absolutely nothing more impactful that any of us, but especially government, could be doing right now to mitigate climate change, to prevent waste, to support local farming and food sustainability,\u201d she said. \u201cOf all the different things we could be doing to help the environment at this point in time, there\u2019s nothing that\u2019s more impactful than composting.\u201d<\/p>\n

When organic waste ends up in landfills, it decomposes in a way that produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas that gets trapped in the atmosphere and contributes to global warming. By diverting and composting organic waste, this is significantly reduced. It also produces a nutrient-rich product that boosts soil health which, in turn, allows for more carbon to be sequestered out of the atmosphere, Kubat said. <\/p>\n

Canelas said that implementing the recommendations in the letter would be a step in the right direction for the county in realizing the potential of composting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the county just taking composting seriously, developing a plan, and initiating that dialog with the community is going to be an important effort, and something that I think can go a long way towards long-term resiliency.\u201d<\/p>\n

More information about the EMC meeting, how to attend and comment can be found at tinyurl.com\/2t7db65z.<\/p>\n

Read more Orioles clobber Dodgers, 12-1, to win series behind loud bats, steady start<\/a><\/p>\n

Email Grace Inez Adams at grace.adams@hawaiitribune-herald.com.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hawaii County urged to develop composting plan – Hawaii News | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHawaii County urged to develop composting plan - Moving to Hawaii Guide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=739\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hawaii County urged to develop composting plan - Moving to Hawaii Guide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hawaii County urged to develop composting plan - 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