THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

78

THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of transportation to study the feasibility of using recycled plastic to repair roadways.

 

 


     WHEREAS, in the 2019 Report Card for Hawaii's Infrastructure, the Hawaii Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) graded eleven categories of the State's infrastructure, resulting in an overall average grade of D+; and

 

     WHEREAS, the ASCE noted that Hawaii's roadways are among the most congested in the nation, and that there will be $23,000,000 transportation infrastructure funding gap over the next twenty years; and

 

     WHEREAS, numerous initiatives, including a startup in the United Kingdom and the Solid Waste Institute for Sustainability at the University of Texas at Arlington, have developed techniques for using recycled plastics to repair roadways; and

 

     WHEREAS, multiple states, including Texas, Iowa, and Missouri, have already begun using recycled plastic in some highway repair projects; and

 

     WHEREAS, using recycled plastic products in roadway repair projects prevents plastic waste from going into a landfill and presents an opportunity to use bitumen efficiently; and

 

     WHEREAS, the December 2009 County of Hawaii Integrated Resources and Solid Waste Management Update: The Path to Zero Waste indicates that a significant amount of glass is crushed for use in construction projects within the County of Hawaii, such as using glasscrete in county Solid Waste Division projects and crushed glass for backfill behind retaining walls, and that glass is also shipped to the United States mainland or Asia for remanufacturing; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Transportation is requested to study the feasibility of using recycled plastic to fix roadways in Hawaii; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Transportation and Highways Administrator.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Transportation; Roadway Repair; Recycled Plastics