Posted on: Friday, January 25, 2002

Bottlers call for curbside recycling

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer

The state's beverage industry, which is trying to block passage of a bill requiring a statewide bottle deposit, has developed a strategy that emphasizes curbside recycling.

The strategy, put forth to legislators in a closed-door meeting yesterday, should increase residential recycling twofold throughout the state, the industry said. The plan was released late yesterday by Hawai'i Citizens for Comprehensive Recycling, the organization set up by the beverage industry.

While a bottle bill's requirements would be restricted to glass, metal and plastic beverage containers, the industry plan covers recycling of beverage containers as well as paper and other recyclables.

"That's fundamental to our approach," said Gary Yoshioka, general manager of Pepsi Bottling Co.-Hawai'i.

Meanwhile, supporters of the bottle bill say a new Mainland study, which had support from the beverage industry there, found that properly designed deposit legislation could triple recycling at no cost to taxpayers. That study was titled Businesses and Environmentalists Allied for Recycling, or BEAR.

Differences in how to approach the issue in Hawai'i set up another tense year in the Legislature, which stopped short of passing a bottle bill in the 2001 session after the beverage industry promised it could find a better solution to the state's waste problems.

The Hawai'i industry's plan has three main parts:

• Homes would be assessed a fee for trash collection, but the fee would be reduced if a household recycles.

• Curbside recycling would be in urban areas, with expanded recyclable dropoff sites in rural areas.

• The industry would find cheaper ways to haul recyclables to out-of-state markets.

Charlie Scott, of Cascadia Consulting Group, which prepared the study, said the industry's plan could accomplish more recycling at a quarter of the cost of the bottle bill.

Bottle bill supporters had not seen the plan, but said existing studies suggest curbside recycling is substantially more expensive than a bottle bill.

"Curbside projects are not getting the job done," said city recycling coordinator Suzanne Jones.

She said the BEAR report found that properly designed deposit systems are less costly than curbside programs and do not burden local taxpayers.

"These findings have the potential to break the impasse between environmentalists and the beverage industry on the Hawai'i bottle bill," said Sierra Club Hawai'i Chapter director Jeff Mikulina.

That's unlikely, Yoshioka said.

"The BEAR report's numbers are not accurate and not applicable to Hawai'i," he said.

The bottle bill would place a 5-cent refundable deposit on 12-ounce containers, plus a 2-cent nonrefundable handling fee.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.