 By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Staff Writer
The bottle bill in the Legislature is pitting local recycling agencies, environmental organizations and litter control groups against the powerful interests of the beverage industry, and in the battle of lobbyists, the industry seems to have the upper hand.
"The general public has not been very involved" and will need to step up if container deposit legislation is to get through the Legislature, said Genevieve Salmonson, director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control.
The bottle bill, House Bill 1256 House Draft 1, has passed through the Energy and Environmental Protection and the Economic Development and Business concerns committees and is in the hands of the House Finance Committee, where no hearing date has been set. If no hearing is held, the bill will die without reaching the House floor for a vote.
The bill would require a deposit on every beverage container sold in Hawai‘i. Returning the plastic, glass or metal containers would get the consumer’s deposit back, except for a 2-cent container fee, which would pay for the recycling program. Single-serving containers such as a 12-ounce beer or cola can would come with a 5-cent redeemable fee, plus a 2-cent container fee. Containers of 20 ounces or more would have a 15-cent redeemable fee, plus the 2-cent container fee.
In the 10 states where bottle bills are in place, recycling rates are dramatically higher than where non-deposit recycling is in effect, supporters say. The container industry says better recycling programs should be employed, not container deposit legislation.
"We support comprehensive recycling programs. We’ve looked at this bill. It would be extremely costly to retailers, costly to consumers," said Judith Thorman, vice president for state and local affairs with the National Soft Drink Association in Washington.
She argued that soft drink containers make up a small part, just 4 percent, of solid waste, and that deposit-based recycling programs are very expensive to run.
Hana Steel, Maui County’s recycling coordinator, said that when recycling rates are low, as they are in Hawai‘i, 4 percent is a big chunk, not a small one. She challenged the statement that a container deposit system is more expensive than other forms of recycling. Steel said the issue is shifting the burden of cleaning up container trash off the general taxpayers and to the actual responsible parties.
"Their position is totally shifting the responsibility of this industry (to taxpayers). We would like the beverage industry to be responsible for their trash," Steel said.
Bottle bills have appeared in previous sessions of the Legislature, often without the support of county recycling agencies. Honolulu recycling coordinator Suzanne Jones said her agency first wanted to give voluntary recycling a chance and has now concluded that it won’t do the trick.
Many recycling groups and firms back this year’s bottle bill. One, Tomra Recycling Network, said it takes no position, but "is confident it can provide the systems and support necessary to handle the increased recycling of used beverage containers, which is projected to occur," said TOMRA Hawaii area business manager Terry Telfer.
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