Situated more than 2300 miles from the mainland, Hawaii faces unique challenges when it comes to marketing its recyclables.
“The state has never had much of a manufacturing base – the main economic base is agriculture, then tourism,” says John Harder, solid waste coordinator for the state’s Dept. of Health. “Most of our materials go to Asia, but with the downturn there, we are seeing slumps in our fiber market.” Most of the western U.S. states don’t want Hawaiian recyclables because they too, ship recyclables to Asia.
Small, local markets are growing in Hawaii. Aloha Plastics on Maui manufactures plastic lumber from local plastic. Another company on Oahu is pulping recovered newspaper and making cellulose insulation and hydro mulch. The state is also making inroads in using recovered glass as glassphalt on highway projects. Hawaiian Cement in Honolulu has found a use for crushed glass in concrete applications.
“One advantage to using recovered glass is that Hawaii imports 80,000 tons of silica sand for golf course applications and sandblasting, at a cost of $100 a ton.”
FROM Waste Age’s Recycling Times
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