Maui Resource Recovery Facility is expected to be fully operational in 2017.
Alan Arakawa, mayor of Maui County, Hawaii, has signed an agreement with the Maui Resource Recovery Facility LLC to finance, design, construct, own and operate a resource recovery facility, which is expected to divert about 85 percent of the county's municipal solid waste from disposal in the Central Maui Landfill. The facility is anticipated to be fully operational in 2017. Arakawa signed the contract during his monthly television talk show in early January.
“The county embarked on this project to foster creation of on-island renewable energy and land use sustainability,” Arakawa said. “The Maui Resource Recovery Facility's solution bolsters recycling efforts for the community and advances significant landfill diversion, while providing a considerable net environmental benefit, renewable fuels and long-term cost savings in the millions of dollars over the 20-year term of the agreement.”
The facility will include a materials recovery facility to separate out recyclables. The remaining waste will be further separated into digestible organic fraction and residual matter. The organic fraction will go to a closed anaerobic digester, which will produce renewable natural gas and other marketable commodities. The residual matter will be processed into a clean solid fuel. The facility's power needs will be largely met by creating electricity using the landfill gas and renewable gas as a fuel source.
“We are very proud to have been selected as the partner for this project and look forward to working closely with the county to achieve their waste diversion goals,” says Arun Sharma, president of Anaergia Services, the developer of the Maui Resource Recovery Facility. “Once operational, this project will incorporate and integrate leading technologies for material recycle and renewable energy production, which will make Maui a beacon for environmental sustainability.”
