Posted on: Tuesday, November 2, 2004

Bottle deposit hitting snags

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

At least 150 people called the state Health Department yesterday to complain of problems on the first day of a new state law that allows stores to start charging a nickel deposit on beverage containers.

Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said most of the calls came from people who said they got charged the nickel deposit even when the containers didn't have the required special label that reads "HI 5¢."

Stores could begin charging the nickel as of yesterday, but starting Jan. 1, the deposit will be required in addition to the penny consumers began paying last month.

"Stores should not be charging the 5-cent deposit for unlabeled containers," Okubo said. But consumers can help by checking their labels and cash register receipts while they are in the store, she said.

Okubo also cautioned that the deposit language can be hard to find on some containers.

"Sometimes, it's small," she said. "People need to look very, very carefully."

A check of store shelves indicates that some companies have put the lettering on beverage caps, others printed it on the label and still others printed it onto the clear plastic bottles. "Some cans have it etched in the top," Okubo said.

Several consumers shopping yesterday for cold drinks at Ala Moana Center said they don't mind the fees but hadn't heard about them until they noticed them on their receipts.

Kaimuki resident Jeremy Nelson said the deposits are a good idea and will help encourage more people to recycle, even if it means his bottled water is getting a little more expensive.

Nelson said he recycles now and has just gotten into the habit of saving the containers for a while and then turning them in.

"I save up," he said. "You get more money in bulk."

Orthopedic surgeon Tom Kane said he didn't realize the new fees were coming, but he supports the concept.

Kane, a Kailua resident, said the deposit might take a little effort and some getting used to, but "in general, it's worth it."

The organization that represents most Hawai'i stores said it's too early to tell how the process is going because the deposit is not yet being charged in many places.

Hawaii Food Industry Association executive director Ed Thompson said that many stores decided not to begin charging the fee yesterday because they had a mixture of labeled and unlabeled containers on the shelves.

That's what happened at Star Markets. President and chief operating officer Karl Wissmann said the stores started charging the penny apiece container fee on Oct. 1. The penny fee is being used by the state to start and run the deposit program.

But Wissmann said Star, which runs 10 stores on three islands, didn't start charging the nickel deposit fees yesterday because they would have been faced with charging one price for a labeled container but another for an unlabeled one.

Wissmann said the worst-case scenario for his stores would be to have cashiers have to monitor each beverage purchase for the label and correct charge. He said that would lead to long lines and inconvenience and would confuse customers.

Wissmann said the two-month transition is helpful in some ways but confusing in others.

Some customers can't understand why they have to wait to redeem labeled containers until Jan. 1, when the new law becomes fully functional and the state designates certain places as certified redemption centers, he said.

Advocates and opponents of the program both agree that the transition may be bumpy but will get better.

"We're asking that consumers be patient as we try to work this system through," Thompson said.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.