Choosing the site to replace the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill has become an exercise in futility. Since it opened in September 1989, the landfill has expanded and numerous deadlines to close it — going back to 2005 — were subsequently extended.

The latest deadline from the state Land Use Commission (LUC) is March 2, 2028; the city has until the end of this year to choose a new site. This week, it punted.

The Landfill Advisory Committee considered six locations to dump Oahu’s garbage — from Haleiwa to Kunia and Wahiawa — and on Monday rejected them all.

Although the sites met the state’s strict legal requirements, they did not conform to the Honolulu Board of Water Supply’s policy against locating underground waste disposal facilities in “no-pass zones” — areas where designated or actual aquifers exist.

Nonetheless, Oahu’s garbage has to go somewhere. So unless island residents somehow miraculously stop generating non-recyclable trash, a decision will be made: A new site will be chosen, Waimanalo Gulch will remain open past its close-by date, or garbage will start piling up with no place to put it.

Which will it be?

Strict rules limit the city’s options. State Act 73 prohibits a landfill in a conservation district and requires a half-mile buffer zone around residences, schools and hospitals. The state has other rules, too: not too close to airports, not in possible tsunami evacuation zones, not on lands planned for future development, not on federal lands.

If a new site isn’t chosen soon, the West Side community, understandably fed up with hosting Oahu’s dump, could find itself stuck with Waimanalo Gulch indefinitely, perhaps until the landfill reaches capacity — a decade or more from now.

Of course, no one else wants a dump in their neighborhood either. Waimanalo Gulch handles about 70,000 tons of nonhazardous waste per year, as well as 180,000 tons of ash from the HPOWER trash-to-energy plant. It will be a hard sell, requiring significant community benefits for the host community.

The city will need to press harder to resolve this problem. It could seek a relaxation of Act 73 rules, or extend the deadline to close Waimanalo Gulch. The latter option should be avoided if at all possible, as it would betray repeated promises to the West Side. The city also should redouble efforts to reduce the need for a large, intrusive landfill, by expanding recycling and reuse options, and adopting policies that reduce consumer waste (like plastic bag bans). Waste not, want not.