Hawaii is unique in several ways among U.S. states. It is, obviously, a tropical paradise, but its remote location in the Pacific means that it either has to import everything it uses or rely on manufacturing that can adapt to a limited sales base.
Sustainability programs, likewise, face obstacles.
The Hawaiian Islands have a bottle deposit system, but any PET bottles collected through it typically are shipped to the mainland U.S. or Asia for recycling. At least until now.
Waiākea Bottling Inc., a company that bottles water from the volcanic aquafir of Mauna Loa, is installing the state's first bottle-to-bottle recycling system from STF Group of Germany and Zimmer America Recycling Solutions. With the equipment, Waiākea's affiliate Malama One Recycling LLC will be able to handle all of the recycling process in house. Currently it relies on buying PET recycled flake that has to be shipped to Hawaii.
"Hawaiian bottling companies such as Waiākea must import their PET, glass or aluminum for bottling," CEO Ryan Emmons told PN's Bridget Janis. "The presence of Malama One Recycling will break that pattern and effectively close the loop on PET and potentially other materials in Hawaii."