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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Friday, April 15, 2005

Recycle at Foodland, earn in-store credit

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

Returning bottles and cans for the 5-cent deposit will get a little easier next month as Foodland Super Market becomes the first O'ahu retailer to give store credit for recycled containers.

Foodland said yesterday it will offer in-store credit for bottles and cans redeemed at mobile redemption centers in the parking lots of three of their O'ahu locations starting in May.

Other redemption centers — including mobile ones that visit the parking lots of various stores and shopping centers, including some Times Supermarkets — give cash in return for containers.

Hawai'i's new bottle recycling law, which took effect Nov. 1, has been plagued by a low participation rate in part because of the inconvenience of returning bottles to recycling centers instead of the stores where they were bought.

"We know consumers have been faced with many challenges redeeming bottles and cans," said Sheryl Toda, a Foodland spokeswoman. "We're committed to doing our part to help."

Foodland's decision to offer in-store credit for bottles could push other competitors to follow suit.

Under the store's plan, recycler Rolloffs Hawai'i will set up a mobile redemption center at Foodland locations on Beretania Street, in 'Ewa Beach and La'ie on alternating days. Consumers will be able to turn in their empties in the Foodland parking lot and get a receipt, which can be redeemed for cash or goods inside the store.

Foodland would be the first store on O'ahu to allow customers to offer in-store credits for redeemed containers, said Janice Okubo, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health, which runs the state's container redemption program.

Stores began collecting 5-cent deposits on each eligible container on Nov. 1. Starting Jan. 1, shoppers were able to take their containers to recycling centers to get back the deposit.

Through March, the state collected an estimated $12.5 million in container deposits, of which just $2.2 million was returned to consumers. Returns in January and February were especially low. March saw an improvement, with a fivefold increase in returns.

Anything retailers can do to make recycling easier for consumers will help, Okubo said.

"We certainly would like to see more redemption centers and we understand that convenience is an issue for consumers," she said.

Recycling at the three Foodland locations will be available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. rotating from store to store, Toda said. Details will be included in Foodland advertising and in stores.

Foodland also is considering adding redemption centers at more locations in its 18-store O'ahu chain, Toda said.

Foodland isn't the first store in Hawai'i to offer store credit for returned bottles. In Kahului, Maui, Paul Hanada, operator of Aloha Shell Service and Ilima Shell, already has reverse vending machines that accept empty containers and provide a receipt that can be redeemed for 5 cents per container at his service stations.

Under the bottle law, stores on O'ahu larger than 5,000 square feet are required to have redemption centers by July if there are no other centers within two miles. Stores on the North Shore and rural sections of Windward O'ahu are exempted.

Reach Sean Hao at 525-8093 or shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.