Kauai Recycling and Televisions
Kauai has begun an annual electronic recycling drive for all types of electronic equipment. Items accepted include: Computers, Hubs, Keyboards, Laptops, Typewriters, Stereos, Cameras, TV’s, Fax Machines, CD-ROM drives, Telephones, VCR players, Speakers, Radios, Copiers, Cell phones, DVD drives, Backup batteries, DVD players, Camcorders, GPS systems, Monitors, Scanners, Stereo components, Printers, Plasma Screens, Electrical gaming units, Overhead projectors.
During the year, televisions from institutional sources are not accepted at the landfill because the components of the monitors CRTs and LCDs exhibit characteristics of hazardous waste that exceed the limits for landfills. Call 241-4837 for information on recycling TVs & monitors generated from businesses. Also, E Recycling Kauai is now offering year round Electronic Recycling to residents and businesses including door to door pick up for a fee. For more information, see their website erecyclingkauai.com, or call 651-2544.
Free Annual Electronic Waste Recycling Event
Vidinha Stadium Parking Lot
Friday, October 21 from 8 am to 5 pm for Businesses & Institutions
Saturday, October 22 from 8 am to 5 pm for Residents
For more information, visit the county’s Kauai recycling website.
Kauai Recycling And Galapagos Lessons
The Galapagos Islands have experienced an increase of residents and visitors over the past few years, which has created a variety of environmental concerns including an unprecedented amount of waste. How do you handle all the waste when you live on a small island? Their efforts included helping develop a more sustainable waste management system, along with a recycling outreach campaign. Now, after just over 3 years of recycling, there are some things that the system could teach the U.S.
They have better recycling rates than the U.S. after less time.
The island currently recycles 35 to 50 percent of it’s waste, which is as good, or better, in many cases, than most U.S. municipal systems after just three years, versus three decades in the U.S.
Composting makes waste management way easier.
They’ve added yard waste and food scrap composting, which makes so much sense on a small island. Santa Cruz produces about 12 tons of waste per day (pretty small compared to any developed city) but still, all that waste has to go somewhere. With organic waste being about 50 percent of those 12 tons, there’s definitely no shortage of compostable material, so the installation of the industrial compost system has a hugely positive impact on the island’s waste stream.
Encouraging reuse with a bottle deposit really works.
The Galapagos has a deposit of $1 on all beer and soda glass bottles. That’s six bucks extra for every six pack, and even for the casual beer or soda enthusiast, that would add up quickly unless you were hanging on to your bottles to return for the deposit. It’s working great on the island; the return rate is well over 90 percent, and the bottle deposit program is really in it’s infancy.
These new efforts remain a work in progress, and more conscientious waste reduction is an obvious first step to slowing down the waste stream. The current system is a huge step up, but ultimately, they’ll need to continue finding ways to simply require fewer and less wasteful goods for both residents and tourists alike.
Kauai Recycling and Green Waste
Green waste is biodegradable waste such as grass trimmings, flower cuttings, hedge trimmings, shrubbery, stumps, branches, and christmas trees. Kauai green waste collected through the County recycling program is shredded into a mulch product that can be used as a ground cover or as a carbon base for composting.
Green waste can be recycled at the following locations:
- Hanalei Transfer Station
- Lihu’e Transfer Station
- Kapa’a Transfer Station
- Hanapepe Transfer Station
- Kekaha Landfill
Materials Accepted:
- Lawn Trimmings
- Tree Trimmings (stumps, branches, leaves)
- Shrubbery
- Christmas Trees
Only source separated green waste is accepted, all other non-plant materials not listed as acceptable material is contamination. To prevent contamination, green waste should be separated from all other types of waste material prior to delivery. Logs and stumps 8 inches or more in diameter should be cut to lengths of 8 feet or less. When delivering green waste be sure to remove all ropes, canvas, film, plastic, and tie-downs used to secure green waste in your vehicle. For more information, visit the county’s Kauai recycling website.
Kauai Plastic Bag Ban Begins
The plastic bag ban begins on Maui and Kauai, with businesses providing environmentally friendly alternatives and shoppers expected to bring reusable bags with them to checkout counters. The goal of this bill is to become more environmentally friendly by reducing the amount litter, reducing the burden on landfills, and reducing threats to marine life.
On Kauai, all commercial businesses, restaurants, and takeout food establishments, will need to supply recyclable paper bags or biodegradable bags. Businesses that fail to comply face a $250 per day fine for the first notice, $500 a day for the second notice, and $1,000 a day for the third.
Environmental groups were consulted in developing the bill, which advised not to permit cornstarch-based biodegradable plastic bags because fossil fuels are required for their production. Retailers may provide customers with recyclable paper bags that contain no old growth fiber, are 100 percent recyclable, contain a minimum of 40 percent post-consumer recycled content, and display the words “reusable” and “recyclable” in a highly visible manner on the outside of the bag. The intent of the new law is to encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags when shopping.
Kauai Recycling and Electronics
The Hawaii Electronic Waste Recycling Act mandates that manufacturers implement recycling programs for desktop and laptop computers, computer monitors, and printers as of 2010, and that the programs include televisions in January 2011.
Kauai Residents may bring their personal eWaste to Kauai Community College on Saturday, October 30 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. Kauai Businesses must pre-register. All public and private schools, universities, government agencies, military branches, non-profit organizations, and small to medium sized businesses (of less than 100 employees) allowed. Call the County Recycling Office at 241-4841 for a list of acceptable and unacceptable items or for any further questions.
E Recycling Kauai is now offering year round recycling pickup for electronics for a fee. For pricing information, call 651-2544 or e-mail at erecyclingkauai@yahoo.com.
You can recycle your Macintosh computer at MacMade Easy located at 4480 Ahukini Rd., Suite 101, Lihue, HI 96766. Call 245-6227 for more information.
Kauai United Way accepts donations of cell phones at 4374 Kukui Grove Street #201 in the grey ofice condo across from the movie theater in Lihue. They’re open weekdays from 8:30 to 4:30. Call 245-2043 or just stop in.
Kalaheo School is now accepting certain high-end electronic equipment for recycling. The list of eligible items to be recycled includes: Cell phones, Ink Jet Cartridges, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras, Digital Video Cameras, and MP3 Players. If you would like to donate these items to Kalaheo School, please drop them in their main office. For questions about the program, e-mail Traci Sullivan at: traci_sullivan@notes.k12.hi.us
For more information, visit the county’s Kauai recycling website.
Recycling Marine Debris
The Hawaiian Archipelago , which extends 1,500 miles from the Big Island of Hawaii to Kure Atoll, is among the longest and most remote island chains in the world. But, because of their location in the North Pacific Gyre, these islands are prone to accumulating floating marine debris. Each year, over 50 tons of marine debris from domestic and foreign sources wash ashore and snag on reefs across the island chain. Marine debris continues to present a hazard to marine habitat and wildlife, including the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal, Green Sea Turtles, various seabirds, and Humpback Whales.
Much of the debris is made up of derelict fishing nets, which are strewn along otherwise pristine coastlines of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. Large conglomerations of these nets, sometimes weighing thousands of pounds, are removed from Hawaii’s reefs and shores each year.
Instead of adding these nets to already congested landfills, NOAA and multi-partner marine debris group devised a unique program to recycle this marine debris into usable electricity. The nets are transported to a facility where they are chopped into small pieces and burned, producing steam which drives a turbine that creates usable electricity. This Nets-To-Energy Program is possible only through the partnership and support of more than a dozen public and private entities working together to provide enough electricity to power hundreds of homes each year. But NOAA’s ultimate goal is to halt the constant barrage of garbage from entering the ocean in the first place.
