Hawaii

Production History

Historically, Hawaii had an economy based on agricultural export; however, as pineapple and sugar became cheaper to produce elsewhere in the world, agriculture in the islands declined markedly. As a result, the islands import approximately 85 percent of their food in the 21st century, making the islands dependent upon the global market to supply their food. Likewise, the lack of nearly all natural resources in the islands means that nearly all materials needed for construction, transportation, and personal consumption are produced elsewhere and imported. Because of this dependence on imported goods, Hawaii's food security is quite vulnerable to shipping delays or natural disasters that affect the infrastructure, such as tsunamis and hurricanes.

Waste Incineration and Export

The large volume of goods imported to Hawaii produces a significant waste stream that poses serious challenges to the state. Specific aspects of waste collection in the state differ by island and county but share a number of similarities across the state. For instance, nearly all household and commercial waste is deposited in either landfills or incinerated for energy. As many of the landfills have reached capacity or will reach capacity in the next several years, there has been increased pressure to expand the landfills. However, given the strong public opposition to expanding the landfills, due to both the fragile nature of the island ecosystems and the proximity of the landfills to areas of rural poverty, local governments have been pursuing alternatives.

One alternative is expanding the garbage-to-energy plant on the island of Oahu, which incinerates trash to create steam for a turbine. As of 2010, the garbage-to-energy plant (H-Power) is capable of producing 46 MW of power through consuming up to 2,160 tons of garbage per day. This volume of garbage reduces the volume of municipal solid waste that goes to the landfill by 90 percent. Because of this decrease in solid waste, the garbage-to-energy plant is seeking to add a third boiler, thereby increasing annual capacity from 600,000 to 725,000 tons of garbage incinerated per year. The islands of Maui and Hawaii are exploring garbage-to-energy plants as their landfills are reaching capacity.

Hawaii's economy used to depend on agricultural export, primarily pineapples and sugar. However, global price declines for these commodities have considerably suppressed agricultural production on the islands, which now import 85 percent of their food.

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