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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, July 3, 2005

EDITORIAL
Recycling initiatives demonstrate creativity

There's money to be made by cashing in beverage container deposits: Witness the dumpster-diving for bottles and cans in rubbish bins — legal when taken from public sites but not from private property.

Recycling info

For details on how to get in on the nonprofit recycling effort, go to www.opala.org/green_bins.htm.

While it probably won't prevent the illicit profiteering by individuals, the city is making a valiant effort to funnel this money to benefit good causes.

Two resolutions approved by a City Council committee press the administration to allow nonprofit groups to place container collection bins at city parks, and to cooperate with state education officials in locating more bins on school campuses.

This would be a worthy advancement in the city's established recycling program with nonprofit organizations. It also would give legs to a somewhat stumbling collection system for the state's "bottle law."

The state's HI-5 recycling program got off to a rocky start this year, and even the city is struggling to resolve legal disputes over the contract for curbside recycling. But it's gratifying to see Ho-nolulu officials think creatively about tapping this fund-raising resource while the more institutional kinks are worked out.