Hawaii County’s Solid Waste Division (SWD) and the Office of the Mayor announced Friday the return of five transfer stations to regular operating hours. If all goes as planned, daily operations will resume on Monday, September 13. Returning to normal operating hours will be the Hawi, Keauhou, Hilo, Kea‘au, and Pahoa transfer stations. Since August 31, COVID-19-related staffing issues have caused interruptions and reduced services at the Hawī and Keauhou facilities to Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the Hilo, Kea‘au, and Pahoa facilities to Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
“We’re proud to have found creative and out-of-the-box solutions to return vital services to our communities in the midst of the pandemic,” said Mayor Mitch Roth. “We understand the importance of ensuring reasonable and equitable access to our transfer stations and remain committed to doing whatever we can to preventing further closures to the best of our ability. Breaking down silos was a focal point of our administration, and this is just one example of how collaboration between departments, across all sectors, can help us solve some of our toughest challenges.”
“Once again, during these transfer station closures, people have shown the willingness to come together and work toward a solution,” said Ramzi Mansour, Director of the Department of Environmental Management. “I would like to thank the Office of the Mayor, the Department of Health, Department of Public Works, and the Department of Human Resources, and the hard-working Solid Waste Division staff that worked beyond expectations to continue the services by ‘holding the torch’ as others were out due to the unpredictable COVID 19 Delta variant.”
Visit hawaiizerowaste.org for scheduled hours of operation at facilities islandwide, and register online to receive notifications about service interruptions.