Private green waste disposal will no longer be accepted at the Ke'ehi Refuse Transfer Station beginning Dec. 18, the city Department of Environmental Services announced.

City Environmental Services Director Eric Takamura said the change was necessary because of the growing amount of waste being collected at the site. The transfer station is at its operational capacity of 500 tons per day, he said.

Homeowners and other private parties who show up with lawn clippings, branches, leaves and other plant matter will be directed to the two Hawaiian Earth Products facilities that turn green waste into compost and mulch. They are at 101 Kapa'a Quarry Road in Kailua and at 91-400 Malakole St. in Campbell Industrial Park.

Takamura also noted that in the urban Honolulu area served by the Ke'ehi station, the city provides free manual collection of bagged or bundled green waste twice a month.