The Honolulu Department of Environmental Services is testing out a new program to help keep reusable items out of the landfill.
With the launch of the pilot reuse program on May 31, Kapaa Transfer Station will serve as a one-stop shop for dropping off trash and donatable goods.
Community members may take trash, gently used household items, and salvaged construction materials to a collection site at the Kapaa Transfer Station, where staff from Goodwill and Re-Use Hawaii will offer advice about what items they accept and which should go in the “pit” at the Transfer Station.
“All the household goods that we collect here will be going to various stores that Goodwill runs, and then the building materials — hardware, doors, windows, plumbing, electrical, fixtures, things like that — will be going to the Re-Use store on Salt Lake Boulevard, across the street from the stadium,” said Roger Babcock, director of the Honolulu Department of Environmental Services, during a news conference on Friday.
Babcock didn’t have information about the amount of items that may be diverted from H-POWER or the landfill, but his department plans to collect data during the six-month pilot and hopes to use it as evidence for extending the program.
Katy Chen, CEO of Goodwill Hawaii, is confident this program will help divert a significant amount of reusable goods, because convenience is the No. 1 factor in motivating people to donate used items. “Now we have another place, a convenient location, to make donations.”
Quinn Vittum, the executive director of Re-use Hawaii, which has for 19 years diverted construction material from the landfill and then provided the materials as a low-cost resource, said this pilot project would help generate a circular economy. “We can really redesign everything that we're doing in a circular way,” he said. A circular economy aims to reduce waste and pollution by keeping materials and products in use for as long as possible.
The reusable material collection site pilot project came about after a resolution was passed by the Honolulu City Council in 2023 that set aside $90,000 for its establishment as a way to reduce the 1.7 million tons of solid waste produced on Oahu annually.
This reuse program could potentially reduce the cost of trash for taxpayers by reducing the waste stream, said Sen. Chris Lee, who represents Kailua and Waimanalo in the state legislature. At that same time, the program will support the secondary market for used goods, which residents can purchase at affordable prices. “It’s a win-win all around,” Lee said.
The collection point at Kapaa Transfer Station will be open on Saturdays and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. until November.
Michelle Broder Van Dyke covers the Hawaiian Islands for Spectrum News Hawaii. Email her at michelle.brodervandyke@charter.com.
