STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3700

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.C.R. No. 78

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2020

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 78 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF USING RECYCLED PLASTIC TO REPAIR ROADWAYS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of using recycled plastic to repair roadways.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation and one individual.

Your Committee finds that according to the American Society of Civil Engineers, Hawaii's roadways are among the most congested in the nation and that the State will have a $23,000,000 transportation infrastructure funding gap over the next twenty years. Your Committee further finds that 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, which have already been implemented in multiple states, including Iowa, Missouri, and Texas. Your Committee also finds that using recycled plastic products in roadway repair projects prevents plastic waste from going into a landfill and presents an opportunity to use bitumen efficiently. This measure requests that the Department of Transportation study the feasibility of using recycled plastic to fix roadways in Hawaii.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 78 and recommends its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

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LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair