MEDIA RELEASE

The County of Hawai‘i Department of Environmental Management invites the public to a grand opening event for the recently completed renovation of the Waimea Recycling and Transfer Station on Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 8:30 a.m. The project includes a new re-use center.

The event is also being held to show aloha and appreciation to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for providing funding for the Waimea Re-Use Center, as well as the future construction of four (4) additional Re-Use Centers planned for our Big Island communities.

The County has established a landfill diversion goal of 50 percent and with re-use centers like this one, the County is preserving valuable landfill space, providing a needed community service and helping the County move forward on its path to zero waste.

The EPA grant funded the start-up of the County’s first re-use center in Kea‘au and the County is building on its success. In 2009, new re-use Centers were also opened in Keauhou and Hāwī. In 2010, the County plans to open a re-use Center at the Pāhoa Recycling and Transfer Station.

The renovations were designed by the Department’s Solid Waste Division and Engineering Partners Incorporated and constructed by Bolton Incorporated. The Re-Use Center was manufactured and supplied by Eco Terrestrial Concepts LLC and will be initially operated on behalf of the County by Recycle Hawaii.

In addition to building an area to make recycling bins easier to access and improving the landscape and fencing for litter control, the site improvements includes “Green” or sustainable features. Over 1,000 tons of locally recycled crushed glass was used in the construction works and the Re-Use Center is built with locally grown bamboo, a more sustainable alternative to imported lumber.

Following the ceremony, the public is invited to attend the Department’s Environmental Commission meeting at 9 a.m. at W. M. Keck Observatory, 65-1120 Mamalahoa Highway, Kamuela. If attending, please enter the conference room through the side entrance, not the main entrance of the Observatory.

For more information, contact Linda Peters at lpeters@co.hawaii.hi.us or 961-8942. Visit www.hawaiizerowaste.org to learn more about other County solid waste and recycling programs.