KAILUA-KONA — Mayor Harry Kim Thursday signed a termination of a composting contract that was deemed disadvantageous to the County of Hawaii.
The county informed the contractor, Hawaiian Earth Recycling, LLC that the service agreement for the Organics Diversion Program in East and West Hawaii with the County of Hawaii will be terminated as of June 30, according to a press release Friday issued by the Office of the Mayor.
Kim said that he had no issue with the performance of Hawaiian Earth Recycling, and that he believes that composting is an important part of any waste reduction program. He said composting holds a significant role on Hawaii.
“The two areas of concern were the financial commitments of the county, and the limited nature of the contract regarding composting,” Kim said.
Kim said in early February that he was looking to scrap plans for a $10.3 million composting facility, citing concerns about its cost. He said at the time he supports the intent of the project, which would divert organic waste from Hawaii County’s landfills, but that he saw the contract signed last year as being too expensive and not comprehensive enough.
He also said in early February that he intended to work with Hawaiian Earth Recycling to end the agreement while avoiding penalties.
The contract had provisions for canceling if certain steps weren’t met, including the completion of an environmental assessment. One clause says the county would have to reimburse the contractor for development costs.
HER was the only company that responded to the previous composting RFP.
The composting facility would be designed to process food waste, food soiled paper and green waste, according to the project’s draft EA. If built, trucks would take rubbish from East Hawaii to the West Hawaii landfill and return with organic waste for composting following closure of the Hilo landfill, county officials had said.
Hawaiian Earth Recycling, which couldn’t be reached for comment late Friday, will continue current operations until the official termination date of June 30, Friday’s release said. All terms and conditions of the current contract will remain in place until the termination date.
According to William Kucharski, the Director of Environmental Management (DEM), the mayor instructed DEM to develop a plan to ensure a continued mulching operation with a new contract.
“The goal is to have a seamless operational transfer of the very successful mulching operation,” Kucharski said.
The mayor directed DEM to create a comprehensive waste minimization/waste diversion plan, and to prepare a request for proposals (RFP) to seek an islandwide solution to the county’s solid waste disposal issues, Kucharski said.
He said that the mayor wants to develop a process leading to a dramatic reduction in waste disposal, with a commensurate increase in overall recycling and material reuse, in compliance with the Integrated Solid Waste Plan requirements.