Our Sustainable Partnership Associate, Michaela Schwartz, recently joined the Honolulu City & County on a behind-the-scenes tour to see how Oʻahu tackles one of its biggest challenges: waste. The tour highlighted strategies like recycling, composting, waste-to-energy, and landfill diversion—each with its wins and trade-offs.

Take composting: residents can toss their yard trimmings into green bins, which are hauled to Hawaiian Earth Recycling and turned into compost and mulch. That’s a big win for the circular economy, returning the value of these materials to the land. Even better, starting in 2026 the program will begin taking food scraps. The catch? Compostable packaging won’t be accepted in the expansion, raising questions about its role on the island—especially since legislation like Bill 40 and other emerging policies push businesses toward compostables.

The Waste-to-Energy plant, though sometimes controversial, plays a critical role. It reduces landfill-bound waste by 77% and generates about 10% of the island’s electricity. With Oʻahu’s only landfill slated to close in 2028 and no new site identified, this facility has become an essential part of the island’s waste system.

Recycling, however, remains a challenge. Materials like paper, plastics, aluminum, and glass are sorted locally but then shipped overseas, mostly to Asia, for processing. While it keeps recyclables out of the landfill, it’s not a closed-loop or self-sufficient solution.

Oʻahu’s situation shines a light on the very real challenges of waste management in a finite world. From struggling to recycle locally, to debating the role of waste-to-energy, to the looming difficulty of siting a new landfill, the island’s dilemmas mirror global tensions around waste reduction and responsibility. An island perspective reminds us that there is no true “away” when it comes to waste—we all must learn to manage resources as if we lived on an island, because in many ways, we already do. Explore our solutions.