Aloha Carbon is an innovative process and technology developed by Simonpietri Enterprises LLC, a Hawaiʻi-based, woman-owned, sustainably-driven small business providing renewable fuels and innovative solutions to waste management challenges.
Our approach is to focus on the future, aligning innovations in technology across supply chains, building systems that solve big problems, contributing to better business results and a better world.
Its environmental assessment was officially accepted and published February 23, 2025.
For questions or comments regarding the Environmental Assessment, please email EA@alohasmrff.com.
The Aloha Sustainable Materials Recycling & Fertilizer Facility (SMRFF) is a waste recycling facility, under development in Kapolei, Hawaiʻi, for local solid-organic wastes that are landfilled or currently present challenges. One such waste is construction and demolition (C&D) debris, sorted on receipt into recyclable and unrecyclable materials. Organic C&D waste is converted to energy using a fluidized-bed gasification system that helps self-power the facility. Inorganic C&D waste becomes recycled building materials, and a separate stream of landscaping and invasive-species greenwaste is also converted to energy. The ash becomes organic and potash fertilizers for use in Hawaiʻi. Altogether we estimate halving the waste sent to Oʻahu’s landfills, and we keep looking for ways to do more.
Our continued work to develop sustainable waste-management solutions has earned recognition from the local community. See more about the awards we’ve won as a small, innovative business.
Figuring out what to do with garbage on a small island is a conundrum that has inspired two recent proposals by local and state lawmakers to lessen the addiction to stowing it in a hole in the ground.
Simonpietri Enterprises was included in the U.S. Forest Service award of $80 million to spur wood products manufacturing, expand active forest management, and accelerate energy innovation.
Most wood C&D waste is currently disposed of at the PVT Land Company landfill, set to close in 2028, but Kapolei-based Simonpietri Enterprises is working towards processing treated wood into recyclable material.
The company’s Aloha Carbon brand will make renewable fuel out of solid waste materials, such as treated and painted lumber that would normally go into a landfill. The energy salvaged can be turned into hydrogen, renewable gas and renewable jet fuel.
Learn how Aloha Carbon plans to convert Hawaiʻi’s landfilled waste while keeping a green focus today, for a more sustainable tourism industry in Hawaiʻi.
Hear a firsthand account of what a first-year STEMWorks high school internship looks like, from their summer internship showcase.
Our mission is to do something better with waste than to dispose of it in landfills. The Aloha Carbon project was created to help Hawaii’s energy transition to climate-friendlier bioenergy options, by delivering waste-management solutions that reduce dependency on fossil fuels. We are the recyclers of what cannot be recycled!
We focus on our biggest local needs, which have the least solutions: finding alternate uses for construction and demolition debris (C&D) and organic urban wastes, and converting them into green hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel.
Stay tuned for news on our latest projects.
Similar to recycling, where materials are used in a new way, waste diversion makes use of materials away from landfills.
Gasification can also be used to process waste, but it is a chemical process instead of a combustion process. This difference allows for higher emission controls. Unlike incineration, there is potential for gasification to deliver negative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Aloha Carbon is aiming to help airlines serving Hawaii meet their goals of carbon-neutral growth: producing renewable fuel and carbon credits that meet the ICAO CORSIA requirements to hold lifecycle greenhouse-gas emissions at 2020 levels, including flights to and from Hawaiʻi.
A landfill should be the final stop for waste after all recycling options have been exhausted. When landfills are full, new sites need to be created, which can affect local communities.
Incineration is a combustion process designed to force large amounts of air into a chamber with waste, to sustain a flame in direct contact with the waste to burn it. It requires substantial air-emissions controls to reduce pollutants.
We aim to reduce carbon-intensive economic development by displacing fossil fuel, raw material imports, and greenhouse-gas-intensive cement and building materials, with careful sorting and recycling of waste into locally sourced building materials and energy products.
Founder Joelle Simonpietri led the internal Innovation Team and renewable fuel manufacturing integration initiatives at Par Pacific Inc’s Hawaii petroleum refinery for over 2 years. Ms. Simonpietri was the investment lead for the Waste Management corporation (NYSE: WM) waste-to-energy, waste gasification, and value-added recycled product investments, and interim CEO for an algae aquaculture company. A Navy veteran, she was previously a Department of Defense (DOD) Science and Technology program manager for renewable fuels and gasification procurement programs. Through her work at DOD, she facilitated the scope of work, design basis, and initial Defense Production Act funding of Honeywell UOP’s Ecofining Renewable Diesel hydrotreating process and its first commercial plant, now the World Fuels Paramount renewable jet production plant in Los Angeles, California. In her free time Joelle can be found hanging out with her kids and going for long swims and paddles in the bays around Oʻahu.
Aaron brings financial management, planning, modeling, and accounting with fifteen years of experience in the sustainable agriculture and renewable energy sector. He has served as the Chief Financial Officer of the Kalona Brand cacao farm, Director of Lending at Feed the Hunger Fund, due diligence consultant for Kamehameha Schools, Director of Business Development at landscaping and agriculture firm Pono Pacific, and Financial Analyst at impact investment fund Ulupono Initiative.
Mike is a licensed professional engineer in Hawaii with over 40 years’ experience designing and executing capital projects in the energy industry for the Par Pacific, Tesoro, and BHP companies. He was the lead project engineer at Par Hawaii Refinery for many major new units and upgrades since the 1990’s. Mike was the supervising engineer for the construction of the Distillate Hydrotreating (DHT) unit at Par Hawaii Refinery, as well as the subsequent conversion of that unit to process fats, oils, and greases into Sustainable Aviation Fuel. In his free time, Mike can be found playing bass guitar.
Jody has over 30 years of experience developing first-of-kind and commercial energy projects using solar, biomass, waste, and fossil fuel resources in Hawaii and the continental U.S. for AES Solar, Innergex, NextEra Energy Resources, UPC Solar, Recurrent Energy, Ulupono, and others. She was an Executive Committee member of the Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance (HREA) for 10 years, where she helped develop the Feed-In and Community Based Renewable Energy tariffs.
Jennifer serves as the lead writer for the Environmental Assessment and other planning and permitting tasks for the Aloha Carbon and Aloha SMRFF waste gasification projects. She also assists with construction & demolition waste field observations and testing, feedstock processing, and the gasification of C&D waste and invasive plant biomass. Jenn graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. She interned with and now has been working full time for Simonpietri Enterprises LLC since March 2023 as the Environmental Engineering Technician.
Zachary is the lead for waste feedstock sampling, processing and characterization to aid in the design and development of the Aloha Sustainable Materials Recycling Facility as well as the Aloha Carbon gasification plant. He has been the research project manager for two of the company’s gasification trials on real-world construction & demolition waste. Zak is the company’s longest-serving employee, starting as an intern to support Aloha Carbon development in August of 2020. He graduated from University of Hawaii at Manoa with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. In his free time Zak can be found refurbishing used cars.
Naomi serves as the lead for community engagement, outreach and education for the Aloha Carbon project. She graduated from the University of Hawaii at West Oahu where she obtained a BBA with a focus in management. She interned with Simonpietri Enterprises to support the Aloha Carbon project while in school and has worked full-time for the company since graduation. Naomi brings with her ten years of management experience in the healthcare and service industries and a diverse background in culinary arts and fitness.
Michael serves as the lead for equipment, landscaping, and logistics operations for Simonpietri Enterprises to support the site clearing for the Aloha SMRFF and Aloha Carbon projects. He graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a Master’s Degree in Marine Biology, and also holds a commercial vessel Mate’s license. In his free time Mike can be found captaining a sailing vessel ported in Waikiki.
Samantha graduated from UCLA with a BS in Biology and a minor in Music History. She brings with her a diverse background from working Phase III cardiovascular research trials in Beverly Hills to being a cacao sommelier for Manoa Chocolate. She’s had an interest in sustainability since a young age, soldering solar cells together to create a homemade solar panel to power a flat iron. In her free time, she can be found selling artisanal bread at farmer’s markets, SCUBA diving, or riding her motorcycle.
Jonah serves as safety lead for the company and helps to support project engineering for the Aloha SMRFF and Aloha Carbon projects. He graduated from the University of Portland with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. Jonah is also a licensed private pilot and helped his senior capstone team design, build, and flight-test a 15-foot-wingspan remote-controlled aircraft for the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Aero Design West Competition. Outside of work, Jonah enjoys traveling, attending music concerts and events, going to the beach, and working out.
We proudly work with the University of Hawaiʻi and the Maui Economic Development Board’s STEMWorks program to offer internships that provide training and education for future workers in the clean-energy and sustainability sectors.
Centrie graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, completed her internship at Simonpietri Enterprises in 2023 and went on to work in civil service for the County of Hawaiʻi.
Chai graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, completed his internship at Simonpietri Enterprises in 2023, and went on to work in civil service for the County of Honolulu.
Jayden graduated from Georgia Tech with a master’s degree in environmental science in 2023 and went on to work as an Environmental Sustainability Analyst at Steel Dynamics, Inc.
Justin graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a civil engineering degree, completed their internship in 2024 and decided to pursue other opportunities.
Isabel graduated from the University of Hawaii at Hilo with an environmental science degree, completed her internship in 2024 and decided to pursue other opportunities.
Riley Cabanero is an electrical engineer specializing in electromagnetic physics, with an educational background from Ira A. Fulton. She is passionate about sustainability and dedicated to improving life on Oahu, by combining her technical expertise with creativity. In her free time, she develops innovative solutions through 3D printing and prototyping, and constructing and training AI models for data analytics companies.
