The H-POWER facility on Oʻahu helps divert waste from the near-capacity Waimānalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, but during the last fiscal year it was out of service for more than 80 days.
Honolulu officials estimate that 200,000 tons of waste went to the landfill instead of being burned at H-POWER.
Ahmad Sadri, energy recovery administrator with the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Environmental Services, said the facility had to close for several reasons — both planned and unplanned.
“There's fires and explosions that are sustained by unacceptable items in the waste stream, such as propane tanks, other compressed gas cylinders. Lithium-ion batteries have been a major, major issue,” Sadri said Tuesday at an End Landfills Task Force meeting headed by the Honolulu City Council.
The stormy weather has also been an issue, leading to two outages at H-POWER. In one instance, a pole snapped in half on the property. Sadri said they contributed “greatly” to the amount of waste that had to be sent to the landfill.
H-POWER had no more than 54 outage days in any year since 2021. The 200,000 tons of unburned waste that went to the landfill last year was almost double what it received in either of the last two years.
City leaders are working on projects to reduce explosions, such as a $70 million project for a slower shredder that results in less violence when destroying gas-filled tanks. It can also handle bulky items, which the plant wasn’t designed to handle.
The Waimānalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill is scheduled to close in March 2028.
