Hawaii County is poised to issue a long-term contract to divert most of its waste from the county’s two landfills.

However, reports West Hawaii Today, the contract will virtually close the door on prospects for development of a waste-to-energy incinerator for the island.

The Hawaii County Council is working on a composting plan that could divert 60 percent of the trash from landfills. The idea is to have a private vendor take organic waste that would otherwise be landfilled and make compost out of it to sell to the public.

Officials say waste-to-energy isn’t considered cost-effective for a trash stream of less than 500 tons per day. Hawaii County’s current waste stream, before any organic waste is removed, is just less than that.