By Ken Silverstein, Environmental Leader.

Hawaii County Planning Department has approved a waste-to-energy plant that aims to reduce the amount of waste headed to landfills and instead to divert it to create energy. The Hawaii Tribune-Herald is reporting that BioEnergy Hawaii will lease about 15 acres to build a modern facility.

“The County of Hawaii Planning Department has reviewed the comments received during the 30-day comment period on the draft environmental assessment,” said Planning Director Michael Yee in a letter to the state, as reported by the paper. “We have determined that the project will not have significant environmental effects.”