The Health Department, the lead agency on what is now known officially as the Hawai'i Deposit Beverage Container Program, has received such an outpouring of concern from businesses that yesterday it considered, then rejected, delaying the start of the deposit charge until mid-November.

Elroy Hamada, the third-generation owner of H. Hamada Store in Kaka'ako, shakes his head about the two-month lag between when the deposits will be charged to customers — Monday — and when customers can get their nickels back — Jan. 1.

Hamada said the new law creates a tax on the poor, a paperwork problem for smaller stores without computers and confusion about the delay in getting the money back to customers.

Elroy Hamada of the H. Hamada Store in Kaka'ako with some of the drinks he will soon have to charge a nickel deposit for. The large water bottle has a notice on the label; the sodas have a notice on the cap. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"I'm looking out for the everyday wage-earner" who will notice paying $1.20 more in deposits for a case of soda, Hamada said. "That's extra money that they have to come up with."

One of Hamada's regular sports-drink customers is Jack McGuire, who works nearby in sales and marketing. He supports the idea of a deposit law but doesn't understand why the state would collect the deposit fee for two months before allowing people to get their nickels back.

"That ain't right," McGuire said. "It sounds like something the state would come up with."

The bottle bill was passed in 2002, but opponents from the very start have pushed to delay its implementation. With just days before Nov. 1, businesses are insisting that the transition is too short and that the public needs more time to learn about the new law.

Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said officials proposed postponing the nickel deposit charge until Nov. 15 after hearing complaints from businesses.

But Russell Pang, a spokesman for Gov. Linda Lingle, said the delay was rejected. He said the state will work with businesses and the community to ease the transition. "As with any new program, there will be an adjustment period and a learning curve. It will require some change of habits," Pang said.

Senate minority floor leader Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo), said implementation of the bottle bill needs to be delayed by a governor's executive order so legislators can revisit the issue in the next session.

"The bottle bill is becoming increasingly problematic and we should rethink the entire process," said Hemmings, who originally voted for the bill with the intent of later eliminating the tax that pays for the program.

The bill was passed by the Legislature and signed into law in 2002 by then-Gov. Ben Cayetano as a way to cut down on littering, improve the environment and reduce Hawai'i's dependency on landfills.

Beginning in 2002, distributors could charge a half-cent container fee to consumers to help set up the program. And that fee doubled to a penny-a-piece container fee on Oct. 1. Consumers began seeing the container fees on cash register receipts in recent months. It usually appears as "HI beverage fee" to indicate the 1-cent fee, while the nickel will be listed as "HI beverage deposit."

Julie Ornellas, a Punchbowl resident, noticed the container fees on her Longs Drugs receipt recently. But she said the extra charge will help the community. "We've got to start doing something about our rubbish," Ornellas said. "We're running out of space."

Steve Chang, solid and hazardous waste branch chief for the state Health Department, said the state pushed for a container deposit law as a recycling incentive. He estimates that 800 million beverage containers are sold each year statewide — some 67 million containers a month.

"That's a huge amount of containers," for a population of about 1.2 million residents, even with a thriving visitor industry, Chang said.

Chang said it may be difficult getting used to a new system. But he estimates that about 70 percent of those containers will end up being recycled because of the deposits.

The Hawaii Food Industry Association represents supermarkets, distributors and smaller stores statewide that continue to oppose the deposit plan. Executive director Ed Thompson said members believe the program isn't ready because not all products are labeled and customers can't get their money back right away.

"We believe the transition period is too short," Thompson said. "You cannot collect your nickel back. So they're going to have to hold on to their containers for two months."

Bottlers have until Jan. 1 to change all their labels, so some have not done so, even though retailers could start charging the deposit as early as Monday.

The program's start comes as beverage sales typically peak over the holiday season. "Consumers are going to be frustrated that they can't return the containers," Thompson said. "Stores on the front line are going to bear the brunt of consumers' anger."

Foodland Super Market, which runs 29 Foodland and Sack 'N Save Foods stores statewide, has posted signs and begun handing out fliers explaining the law. Spokeswoman Sheryl Toda said the store is complying with the new law, "while we do not like the idea of imposing additional costs on consumers."

Toda said the company understands the state's motivation in trying to promote recycling. "Nevertheless, we are concerned about the impact this law may have on our customers," she said. So far, Toda said, the stores have received few questions or comments about the charges and have been referring people to the state Health Department.

City recycling coordinator Suzanne Jones can't wait for the law to become fully functional on Jan. 1. Jones expects to see a huge difference in litter.

"Beverage container litter is going to virtually disappear from Hawai'i's landscape," Jones said. "I think it's important that we not just look at litter as a little thing. It's a blight. I think we should be taking better care of paradise."

Reynolds Recycling president Terry Telfer said his company expects to be designated by the state as redemption centers at 25 sites statewide, with 22 on O'ahu, and there are 12 other sites run by other recyclers.

"Over time there will be ample recycling opportunities," he said. Telfer said similar systems have worked with the help of reverse vending machines that accept the empty containers in exchange for credit vouchers.

"There hasn't been a state or country where this thing has started smoothly and we're not going to be any different," Telfer said. "We just need to be patient and the thing will get debugged."

The Sierra Club Hawai'i chapter's Jeff Mikulina noted that 10 other states have a deposit law, and none has repealed one.

The state will try to get people to recycle unlabeled containers with an incentive campaign that starts Wednesday. Chang said School Challenge is designed to have the public turn in containers to schools that will compete for a total of $60,000 in prizes.