Lana'i's bottle center closed
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Islands Editor
Lana'i's sole bottle redemption site has been closed since May 27, leaving consumers with nowhere to get a refund of the 5-cent deposit they've been paying for each beverage container purchased.
The site should reopen in two weeks, however, once the local operator sorts out a paperwork problem that prevented him from getting paid for providing the service, said Stuart Funke-d'Egnuff of the nonprofit Tri-Isle Resource Conservation and Development on Maui, which holds a state permit to run the bottle redemption center on Lana'i.
Funke-d'Egnuff said the man who operates the redemption site for the Tri-Isle group failed to turn in invoices and other information needed to submit a request to the state for payment of handling fees.
Funke-d'Egnuff said he met with the operator Monday to clear up any confusion about the process.
Since the site opened Jan. 10, a total of 307,480 containers have been turned in for redemption on Lana'i, which has a population of about 3,300.
Kerry Honda, manager of the Pine Isle Market in Lana'i City, said the store hasn't gotten complaints from customers about having to pay the 5-cent deposit even though they can't get refunds for now.
"It hasn't come back to us yet," he said.
But at Honda's home, trash bags full of cans and bottles have been piling up while the redemption center is closed. "It's under the house and wherever we can find space," he said.
Hawai'i's bottle redemption law went into effect Jan. 1. Consumers are charged a 5-cent refundable deposit on beverage containers, plus a nonrefundable 1-cent container fee used to pay recyclers for redemption center operations.
Funke-d'Egnuff said Lana'i has a bottle redemption rate of 35 to 40 percent — not yet enough to make the operation profitable. He estimated it would take a redemption rate of at least 55 percent to break even.
Statewide, the redemption rate for the first five months of the year was nearly 40 percent.
Expenses for running a redemption center are especially high on Lana'i, because of shipping costs and low volume. Funke-d'Egnuff said the Lana'i site purchased two special shipping containers at $2,700 each, and that it costs $300 to ship a full container to Reynolds Recycling on O'ahu, although the return trip with empty containers is much cheaper.
Patience Gaia, a Maui County recycling specialist who helps coordinate the state's bottle recycling program, said no one else has applied for a permit to operate a redemption center on Lana'i, probably because of the limited market.
Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.
