For the first time in over 30 years, Honolulu says it’s added a more convenient, efficient way for Oahu residents to responsibly dispose of their household rubbish.
That effort will, the city hopes, avert illegal dumping along the island’s roadsides and around its neighborhoods in favor of properly disposing residential solid waste, green waste and metal, including propane tanks, bulky items and other recyclables, at city-run waste sites.
To that end Mayor Rick Blangiardi, along with other city officials, presided Friday over the grand opening of the newly completed Kapolei Convenience Center.
Built within the greater expanse of Campbell Industrial Park, the site at 91-184 Kaomi Loop is the 10th municipal waste disposal facility on Oahu. It’s also the first new facility of its kind since the Wahiawa Convenience Center opened in 1992, the city says.
“First and foremost, this is a project that was begun long before we came into office,” Blangiardi said during an on-site news conference in Kapolei. “But having the opportunity to bring it into fruition and have it open is a nice milestone for us, because this was something that was really needed.”
The mayor added that “we were having long lines at our other convenience centers.”
“And we’re trying to encourage people to go to the convenience centers because we don’t want illegal dumping,” Blangiardi said.
Spearheaded by the city Department of Environmental Services, construction on the nearly $2.45 million Kapolei project began in 2021 and was recently completed. The site, which spans 355,624 square feet, will provide more convenience for residential waste disposal options for West Oahu, the city says.
In addition to Wahiawa and now Kapolei, five similar facilities are in Waianae, Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Laie and Waimanalo.
These sites do not accept commercial or construction waste, the city says.
Besides the mayor, Honolulu City Council members Augie Tulba and Andria Tupola also attended, each approving of the new facility.
“How exciting this is that we’re all here for trash!” Tulba quipped.
However, he said that in his own Council district — covering Waipahu, Iroquois Point, West Loch, Ewa Villages and portions of Ewa Beach — “we have a lot of illegal dumping.”
“At the end of the day, what we want to do is make sure our districts are clean,” Tulba said.
Representing the Leeward Coast, Tupola said the new Kapolei Convenience Center will be “convenient” to more people living in West Oahu.
“In Waianae it’s not as convenient,” she said. “The large space that you have up here to actually enter and exit the facility, many of the facilities right now don’t have this much space, so it’s convenient in that way.”
Meantime, the city says the newest center relieves pressure on all adjacent sites, particularly in Ewa Beach and Waianae.
“So this gives an alternative for folks on the West side and gives a different place to bring their opala,” ENV Director Roger Babcock said.
According to the city, the latest convenience center offers a versatile array of services, which include having eight 40-cubic-yard containers to dump household trash, and disposing of items like furniture and large metal appliances.
On Friday, Ewa Beach resident Samie Jo Ongory, along with her father-in-law, Bill Paith, showed up with a truckload of wood and metal and other household rubbish to toss into the large green metal bins waiting for them at Kapolei Convenience Center.
“That was great,” Ongory said after they’d chucked their trash, saying wait times at the Ewa Beach site drove her family to use the Kapolei facility instead. “The one in Ewa is a little congested all the time and smaller, and out here it’s wider, and you can fit more vehicles and more containers, so it’s going to be great for everyone out here.”
The city’s seven convenience centers are open to the public from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Sunday. The sites are closed on Christmas and New Year’s Day.
According to the city, residents can check the city’s website to view — with the help of a livestreaming video camera — the waiting lines to enter the Kapolei site. That online, on-camera feature is already being implemented at dump sites in Waipahu, Wahiawa, Ewa and Waianae.
Meanwhile, residents are allowed two loads per day at the city’s disposal sites, including the city’s green waste contractor, Hawaiian Earth Recycling in Wahiawa.
For more information about the city’s refuse program and convenience centers, visit honolulu.gov/opala.
