Hawaii County has set a goal to process and recycle all solid waste on the Big Island in only three years.
At a County Council meeting Wednesday, Puna Councilman Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder introduced a nonbinding resolution urging the county to divert “all municipal solid waste” to an unspecified on-island facility that can convert it into things like carbon-negative cement and biochar by 2026.
“Since I joined the council, I’ve seen numerous presentations on producing things like biochar, but it feels like we’re stuck in the mud a bit,” Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder told the Tribune-Herald on Friday.
However, over the past several months, Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said he and other council members have heard presentations from a company called Yummet that says it can break down waste of all kinds and turn it into usable materials.
A pitch video from Yummet’s CEO Brittany Zimmerman claims that through Yummet’s “proven and patented” technology — which is not explained with any specificity in the video, nor on the company’s website — waste such as plastics, green waste, glass, metal and even greenhouse gases in the atmosphere can converted into their constituent molecules and reassembled into clean air, water, hydrogen, biochar and carbon-negative concrete that is stronger than conventional concrete.
According to Yummet’s website, the company plans to build a full-scale production facility in Hawaii.
A sister company, Yummet Earth Solutions, states that in the interim it will produce biochar — a lightweight black residue made of carbon and ashes — from waste on the Big Island using an incineration process.
Yummet has a pilot site in Minnesota that county Research and Development Director Doug Adams is touring, Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said.
“They’re trying to nail down their business,” Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said. “I think they’re looking to find a home.”
The resolution, however, does not specifically mention Yummet or any other company, something Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder noted during Wednesday’s meeting.
“It’s important that it is open to anybody,” Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder said, adding that any business, Yummet or otherwise, that starts operations on the island will do so only after a standard request for proposals process.
Mayor Mitch Roth told the Tribune-Herald he is familiar with the presentations by Yummet and other companies and said that, while their claims should be vetted, he is optimistic one of the businesses could help the county could make strides in achieving its environmental goals.
“Our island is so dependent on fossil fuels,” Roth said. “We’re continuously looking for ways to provide up green energy. We’re looking at our landfill, and we’re trying to figure out how to take the methane from that — which isn’t a good thing — and turn it into energy.”
Environmental Management Director Ramzi Mansour told the Tribune-Herald that the 2026 goal, while ambitious, is within the realm of possibility so long as the logistics of securing proper contracts and permits are worked out.
“If anyone is willing to come here with major capital, we’ll be interested,” Mansour said.
Mansour added that the county, which produces roughly 800 tons of general waste each day, would be the first place to have such an all-encompassing waste-capture system.
The resolution was widely popular at Wednesday’s meeting, with residents and industry figures urging its passage and praising Yummet.
“We have moved in similar circles in the aerospace industry, and I can say without a doubt, that even at her young age, Ms. Zimmerman has accomplished more in this highly competitive industry than many seasoned engineers will accomplish in their careers,” wrote Rodrigo Romo, former director of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems. “(Yummet’s) innovative approach will help create high-paying jobs, dispose of our waste, and on top of that produce four valuable products that can benefit the island’s economy.”
However, the resolution was not universally praised. Kristine Kubat, board president of Recycle Hawaii, said disrupting the island’s waste streams could have unintended consequences if done carelessly.
“Hawaii County’s green waste-to-mulch program provides our farmers with a highly valuable resource. It is one of the few examples of circularity to be found here,” Kubat said. “Why would we take this resource away and force our farmers to buy imported mulch, which gets shipped over long distances packed in plastic?”
And Kohala Councilwoman Cindy Evans said she could not support the resolution because it was unacceptably vague. However, when the time came for the vote, Evans joined her fellow members in voting for the resolution, leading to its unanimous passage.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.