EPA Adds to Recycling Grant Money for Hawaii

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently added $30,000 to an initial $236,000 grant from the Jobs Through Recycling program awarded to the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

The grant to DBEDT, as part of the Hawaii Buy Recycled Project, is helping to fund development of a guide on recycled-content products available in Hawaii. DBEDT is conducting a survey to identify businesses carrying products with recycled content.

DBEDT Director Seiji Naya said, "This partnership will develop resources, conduct outreach and coordinate the efforts of federal, state, and local partners, as well as industry, to support the development of buy-recycled efforts in the state of Hawaii. Support from the U.S. EPA, combined with the commitments and contributions of our partnership, will provide valuable resources at the right time, ensuring the success of this project: promoting buy-recycled efforts in the state and the procurement of resource efficient products from local companies."

On Oahu in 2000, at least 165,000 tons of construction and demolition material, or 11 percent of the total waste stream, was diverted from landfills by reuse and recycling techniques introduced at various trainings and workshops. The Maui Nonprofit Reuse Network, also supported under this project, diverted nearly 20 tons of material from landfills in 2001.

The Jobs Through Recycling program seeks to create jobs and reduce waste. As part of the grant project that started in Hawaii in 1997, a network of Environmental Businesses in Hawaii was developed to enable materials exchange programs to become self-sufficient.

The initial $236,000 grant from the EPA coupled with $125,000 from state, funded programs such as the Clean Hawaii Center, the Hawaii Resource Exchange Facilities program, the Kauai County Resource Exchange Center, the Maui County Paint Exchange Program, the Kauai Habitat ReStore, Nanakuli Neighborhood Housing Service's Baseyard Hawaii, and the Hawaii County Reuse Feasibility Assessment.

These programs and facilities conduct trainings and workshops and have trained over 500 individuals on construction reuse and "green building" techniques.