Oahu Is Close to Facing a Landfill Crisis

Date: October 25, 2001

Source: News Room

Oahu has only 18 months, or two years at most, to find another landfill or invest in costly new technologies to avoid a disastrous islandwide garbage crisis. The growing problem at Oahu's only public landfill raises serious questions about residents' willingness to accept landfills in their areas, or to spend money on largely untested and expensive future solutions. However, in an island state, the practical options for dealing with tons of trash are limited. The amount of waste generated on Oahu's Neighbor Islands does not justify the millions of dollars necessary to build a large-scale, waste-to-energy incinerator such as one that exists in Oahu. The cost of shipping garbage can quadruple trucking fees, making it impractical to send waste from an island with a full landfill to another island with plenty of room.

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