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Gathering Place
Rodney Smith |
HPOWER keeps waste
out of isle landfillsWe at HPOWER want to congratulate the Star-Bulletin's Charles Memminger for being named top humor writer recently by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. We also want to thank him.
His humorous June 15 column on Oahu's HPOWER waste-to-energy plant not only helped him earn the top prize, but it also helped us educate residents about how this clean and effective plant helps us turn waste into useful energy and helps us avoid having to build costly new landfills.
While we may not be able to handle Memminger's very large tree stump (in his words, "man, it was big") we can -- and do -- successfully process just about every other kind of waste you can think of.
In fact, HPOWER processes more than 2,000 pounds of solid municipal waste every day -- well over 600,000 tons a year. That's enough garbage to fill Aloha Stadium more than seven times since the plant began operations!
The waste is sorted and recyclable materials -- like metal -- and nonburnable materials -- like glass, dirt and the occasional large tree stump -- are removed. The waste is then combusted at controlled high temperatures (between 1,800 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit), producing steam that drives a turbine generator, creating renewable electricity.
Many people don't realize that HPOWER supplies the electricity for as much as 7 percent of Oahu's homes each year.
Because HPOWER is so effective, we typically have to turn away only a small fraction of waste that cannot be combusted in our plant.
We know many people don't even realize where their garbage goes, which is why we welcome all residents to visit the plant or arrange for a tour. You also can visit our Website at www.honoluluhpower.com for more information.
On behalf of the 150 local employees at HPOWER, thank you for the opportunity to provide Oahu with environmentally friendly, state-of-the-art municipal waste handling services.
And again, congratulations, Charles!
Rodney Smith is business manager for HPOWER.