Hawaiian Earth Products Ltd. turns yard trimmings into
compost, mulch and soil-conditioning products to sell.
Photo by Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin

Since July 1, major office buildings have been required to recycle office paper, newspaper and cardboard, while liquor-serving establishments must recycle glass containers.

But it's still tough going in a business where the market for used glass, paper and metal fluctuates from day to day, recycling company operators say.

The prices for recycled goods are low this year, and "if one falls, they all fall," said Genny Salmonson of Honolulu Recovery Systems.

The 5-year-old company has to adjust to a changing market while continuing to pay its 16 employees.

"The cost is there, but your revenues go down," Salmonson said.

Another problem for isle recyclers is the high cost of shipping recycled materials out of state, said Kris Gourlay of Hawaii Environmental Transfer, one of the island's three major paper recyclers.

Most recycled items are shipped to the mainland and Asia because there is little market for them in Hawaii.

Gourlay said it costs half as much to ship paper from the Northwest to Asia as from Hawaii because of the state's limited freight services.

Jim Nutter of Island Recycling said the cost of operating a recycling business in Hawaii is "plain difficult," partly because it is so labor-intensive.

"There is a business in this - it's not an easy business," said Suzanne Jones, city recycling coordinator, who works with collectors and recyclers.

Jones said mainland companies can truck their materials to the nearest paper or glass plant. But isle residents do not generate enough recyclable materials to support a glass-manufacturing industry or paper mill on Oahu.

Hawaii has five major companies that compete for the island's aluminum, paper and glass. Others handle car batteries, scrap metal, yard trimmings and food waste.

"They have very slim profit margins," Jones said. "They have to be real smart at what they do."

Bucking the current trend, some recyling companies are thriving by turning used materials into local products.

"All the other guys are shipping recycling products off island, but before we went into business, we made a decision that that wasn't going to work," said Tom Reed, one of the founders of Aloha Glass Recycling on Maui. Instead, "everything we recycle, we try to use over here."

The 3-year-old company crushes recycled glass for use in floor tiles and decorative landscaping.

Also making a go of it on Maui is Aloha Plastic Recycling, which produces plastic two-by-fours and other wood substitutes from milk jugs.

It is a $250,000-a-year industry that will easily increase fourfold in the next year, said Ronald Durette, director of sales and marketing. "We're doing very, very well."

The company has been contracted by the Maui County Parks Department to build dozens of plastic picnic tables and park benches and by the U.S. Navy, which is using "plastic lumber" in harbor facilities.

Plastic lumber is popular because of its durability. Unlike wood, it won't rot or get eaten by termites.

"The product is guaranteed to be there for 50-plus years," Durette said.

Hawaiian Earth Products Ltd., which recycles yard trimmings, is another local company doing well because it targets a local market.

"Our product comes from Hawaii, stays in Hawaii, goes back out to Hawaii residents," said office manager Lorra Naholowaa.

The company takes 12 to 15 tons of yard trimmings a month from city, state and commercial sources and makes compost, mulch and soil-conditioning products.

Naholowaa said the company sells the finished products to contractors, homeowners and landscape architects and is working on marketing the products islandwide to individual stores and maybe even the neighbor islands.