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Photography by Baron Sekiya | Hawaii 24/7

About 120 people attended the dedication and blessing of the Pahoa Recycling and Transfer Station Thursday (June 16), a solar-powered facility designed to encourage recycling and help residents in the growing Puna communities to efficiently dispose of their trash.

The new $3.9 million Pahoa facility consists of five separate buildings, and is designed to allow for easy expansion as the community around it continues to grow. It is the first county transfer station that is solar powered to save on energy costs, and the first that uses a catchment water system.

It is also the first county transfer station with covered alcoves that allow residents to pull into covered areas to drop off recyclable materials and dispose of their trash.

Recycled concrete from construction demolition sites was used in both construction and the landscaping of the site. Recycled and shredded tires were also integrated into the landscape design, along with crushed, recycled glass.