Mayor Jeremy Harris today said the four-month project, which begins Nov. 3, will be tested on about 11,000 homes.

City refuse workers, using their current automated system, will make pickups every week, but alternate each week between green waste and recyclable goods, such as aluminum, plastic, glass and newspapers, Harris said. Residents will be able to use their current 96-gallon refuse container.

If a homeowner wants a second container solely for recycled items, the city will deliver one for free and for the homeowner to keep once the project is finished, Harris said.

Regular trash pickup will not be altered and residents will still be able to have service twice a week, Harris said.

The city will deliver the recyclable goods to private companies.

The program will cost $270,000, the mayor said.

Harris said the city wants to learn how many people use the system. The city also wants to know how many people will feel the need for a second day of rubbish collection.

"It is going to take a commitment from people to set these things aside and get rid of them on the right day," Harris said. "We are really gauging the willingness of the community."

Parts of the program will be changed halfway through the pilot so the city can test other elements of curbside recycling. But Harris did not want to say too much today because he did not want to confuse people with too many facts.

Several telephone surveys are planned, said Suzanne Jones, the city’s recycling coordinator.

"We really want to learn from Mililani residents how we can do this," she said.

City Councilman Mike Gabbard, chairman of the council’s Public Works Committee, said the program needs to work.

"The clock is ticking on our landfill at Waimanalo Gulch," said Gabbard, who helped with the pilot. "Recycling is not just a feel-good idea. It’s an absolute essential."