Oʻahu's two landfills are both approaching capacity. But for certain kinds of waste, recycling is making some progress.
Oʻahu's Waimanalo Gulch landfill, run by the City and County of Honolulu, is set to close in 2028, while the privately run PVT landfill is set to shutter within the next seven years.
They're the only two landfills on the island. The PVT landfill in Nānākuli will not seek a replacement site, according to its Vice President Ben Yamamoto.
The city’s landfill, just north of Ko Olina, is seeking neighboring land from the James Campbell Company. But that land has already been proposed for a housing project.
James Campbell has said it is not giving up the land, prompting the city to threaten eminent domain to take it by force.
With both landfills approaching their expiration dates, Re-Use Hawaiʻi wants to cut the amount of waste directed to the landfills by recycling pieces of buildings set for demolition.
The private company worked on deconstructing retail spaces at Ward Warehouse in Kakaako before it was demolished in 2017. Now it's preparing to do the same at Ward Centre, which recently obtained permits for demolition.
The company has recovered materials from nearly 900 projects, diverting some 8,200 tons of waste. Last year, it saved more than 700 tons of trash from going into landfills.
That only accounts for a small dent in the annual 1.7 million tons of waste that Oʻahu generates.
If the city does not find a replacement landfill site in the next two years, it could seek an extension until 2031.
But even if it started building a replacement site today, it would likely take seven years to build.
If Oʻahu doesn’t have a landfill by the closure dates, it would probably have to either build an emergency landfill or ship its trash somewhere else.
