EDITORIAL
We could use more bottle refund outlets

Finally, after years of formidable resistance from the beverage industry, Hawai'i's "bottle bill" refund system is up and running.

And we wholeheartedly celebrate this hard-won victory in the quest to keep glass, aluminum and plastic beverage containers from littering our landscape and taking up precious space in the landfills.

It's also encouraging to see that people are using the system. In Kane'ohe on Sunday alone, a mobile recycling truck run by RRR Recycling Services collected 40,000 empties. Obviously, there's a desire to recycle. Or, at the very least, collect the nickel deposits.

And although it's early in the process, there are also some glitches that must be fixed to make the program more effective and successful with residents. Limited hours and short staffing at many redemption centers in recent days resulted in long lines.

If that continues, folks may well go back to recycling at their local school campus containers. One convenient option, in addition to existing redemption centers, would be to have supermarkets and stores accept the empties and issue refunds.

Of course, we understand that Hawai'i's system was deliberately designed to eliminate retailer responsibility for recycling by establishing independent redemption centers. But we may need to rethink that issue down the line.

Oregon's 33-year-old container redemption law has survived not only because the majority of Oregonians are environmentally friendly, but also because opportunities to exchange containers for a refund are everywhere.

Many stores there weren't too happy about having to handle the trash, not to mention dealing with the mess from the not-quite-empties. But the law virtually removed empty drinking containers from the roadside and dramatically reduced containers from the waste stream.

Another option would be to install the bottle-return machines outside supermarkets, like soda-vending machines.

Let's explore these and other recycling opportunities. As an island community with a limited capacity for waste, we have too much to lose.