Maui compost facility uses ‘hot composting’ to combat coconut rhinoceros beetle

WAIKAPU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After three dead adult coconut rhinoceros beetles were collected from traps at Hawaii Organics Compost in June, the landowner has been working with state and county officials to stop the invasive pest from spreading.

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The facility is located at the corner of Kuihelani and Honoapiilani Highways in Waikapu.

How the facility is stopping the spread

Hawaii Organics Compost is a 16-acre property permitted by the Hawaii Department of Health for green waste.

Owner Pete Sullivan said the composting process itself is what prevents the beetle from surviving on the property.

“We can check any one of our windrows right now and everything is between 131 and 160 degrees,” Sullivan said.

The facility uses a method called hot composting — a high-temperature, accelerated composting process that kills pathogens and weed seeds.

The coconut rhinoceros beetle dies at around 120 degrees.

“If there is CRB here, it can’t survive here,” Sullivan said.

State officials checking traps on site

Workers with the state Department of Agriculture were checking traps at the property on Monday.

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Each trap was found empty.

Officials also placed nets with bait as an additional precaution in case beetles escape the hot composting process.

“The idea is a beetle is going to come in, attracted by all of this stuff and crawl its way and as it tries to crawl through it gets stuck,” a worker explained on a video Hawaii Organics Compost provided.

Free mulch giveaway Saturday

Sullivan said the facility also helps reduces the volume of material sent to the landfill.

“A lot of us are ocean people, we’re surfers, and we think that anything that goes into the landfill directly affects the ocean,” Sullivan said. “So, it’s probably kind of self-serving, but at the same time, I feel like it helps the island.”

A free mulch giveaway is scheduled for this Saturday at the Waikapu facility. The public is welcome.

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