Retailers' effort to dump bottle law gains little support at Legislature

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

A measure to kill Hawai'i's bottle law is being pushed by state retailers, who say it unfairly penalizes Honolulu residents who must pay the 5-cent deposit on beverages as well as possibly bear the cost of an islandwide recycling program.

The bill, however, has not received enough support among lawmakers to get a hearing.

Even though the estimated $5 million-a-year Honolulu program is not off the ground, the Retail Merchants of Hawai'i say city residents are being charged twice when those on the Neighbor Islands are not. No other county is planning a curbside recycling program.

Supporters of the bottle law, however, say once the Honolulu program is implemented it would not be duplicative and together would serve as a one-two punch that makes it easier for people to dispose of their recyclable goods.

House Bill 1497, introduced by House Consumer Protection Chairman Ken Hiraki, D-28th (Iwilei, Downtown, Makiki), would eliminate the 5-cent redeemable charge now being tacked onto each bottle, can or other drink container purchased by consumers.

"You're going to have a state program and a city program doing basically the same thing so there's bound to be a lot of overlap, so my intent here was to streamline the effort," Hiraki said.

The bill would retain a one-cent, non-redeemable fee, which would go toward paying for the curbside recycling programs in all four counties, proponents say.

Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo said the state has collected about $2.1 million from the 1-cent fee from Oct. 1, 2004 to Jan. 31 this year.

The state began collecting a penny per container on Oct. 1, and, while merchants could have started charging the additional nickel on Nov. 1, many waited until Jan. 1 when it was required.

House Environmental Protection Chairwoman Hermina Morita, D-14th (Kapa'a, Hanalei), said she expects the only changes that will be made to the bottle law are exemptions for cruise ships and airlines.

"A comprehensive recycling program and a bottle bill actually complement each other," Morita said. The city's program does not address the recycling concerns for those living in apartments, condominiums or others who would not have access to the curbside program, she said, nor would it address the beverage containers used at restaurants, bars or other commercial sites.

Morita said repealing the bottle law also would leave no program for those living on the Neighbor Islands where curbside recycling pickups are not being discussed.

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 materials going into landfills.

From the start, however, retailers and others fought against it or pushed to delay its implementation.

"We're disappointed that bill is not going to be heard because it really was focused on putting a program out there that worked for the consumer and would've allowed the counties the ability to develop programs that would be best for them," said Carol Pregill, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawai'i.

The state has been collecting a good amount of money since the program began and, at a projected 800 million containers a year, could be collecting $8 million a year, she said.

"If you take that money and distribute it on a pro rata basis, all the counties would have a healthy basis to start their curbside or whatever works for them," Pregill said.

The city's curbside recycling program, which was budgeted to cost about $5 million annually, has been put on hold pending discussions with the United Public Workers union. The cost would be covered by the city's general fund and no direct fee to residents has been proposed.

Like Morita, city recycling coordinator Suzanne Jones said the curbside program would complement the bottle law well.

"It's going to provide a very convenient and I think very effective collection system for those of us who are in single-family homes," Jones said. "But when you look at how much garbage we're generating statewide, we have got to be capturing the recyclable portion of our waste in all places that we generate it. There isn't any one system that's going to get the job done."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.