BUREAUCRACY BUSTER

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i Kai resident Donna Wrath noticed an elderly couple in her neighborhood collecting bottles and cans from public and residential rubbish bins and was somewhat shocked to find the practice is mostly legal.

Wrath wrote to Bureaucracy Buster to find out what's legal and what's not.

"With identity theft on the rise, this has made us very nervous," she said. "What are the rules for strangers going through your private garbage? And what can we do to prevent people going through our garbage?"

Those questions are coming up more often since the state law took effect this year that made empty beverage containers worth a nickel apiece. The bill turned one person's trash into another person's treasure.

Wrath wrote: "This can't be an isolated incident. We're sure that other communities are having the same problem."

Honolulu police Capt. Frank Fujii said such questions are bound to come up more with some people using the bottle/can deposits as a fundraiser. He helped us sort out the law on this kind of collecting. But the answer may not be what you expect. Whether it's legal for someone to sift through a rubbish bin depends on who owns the bins and where they are.

For example, it is legal to take recyclables out of a trash container at Maunalua Beach Park because it's on public property, he said. If the same people are removing containers from a bin at curbside awaiting pickup, that's legal because trash left on public property is considered "abandoned," he said.

But taking bottles and cans out of rubbish bins still on private property — like the big gray bin pushed up against your house — is trespassing .

And taking containers out of those white recycling collection bins at schools also is illegal. City Environmental Services Director Eric Takamura said that's because the city contracts with a private company to pick up the donations left in the bin.

Takamura said some thefts from the bins prompted the city to put vertical bars across the section of the bins where people deposit bottles and cans that can be redeemed. That's to discourage people from jumping or reaching in to grab the donations left there.

As more people look at bottles and cans as something valuable, Takamura expects to hear more about these concerns. "I think it's going to be a bigger and bigger issue," he said.

Wrath doesn't have a problem with the folks picking up the unwanted cans and bottles. Her issue comes with the idea of someone examining her personal rubbish. "I don't want anybody going through my garbage," she said.

She worries about personal banking and tax information becoming available to strangers or even flying out of the can when the collectors are searching for bottles or cans.

"You throw away a lot of things that you don't want people to look at," she said.

Fujii understands that concern. "It's a good time to remind everybody that they should shred personal information," he said. While people may think to tear up bank statements, they also should destroy old tax forms, anything with Social Security numbers, bills, and even those relentless applications for credit cards that seem to come in the mail so often.

Fujii suggests that some people may want to reach out to collectors in their neighborhoods to find a solution that works for everybody. "Talk to them, get to know them," he suggested. "Leave a bag where they can pick it up."

If people see someone going through their rubbish and still feel nervous about it, Fujii said they can call police.

But Eugene Shimizu, a Makiki resident, said if people aren't trespassing onto private property to get the containers, he doesn't see a problem with someone picking through the trash. "As long as they don't scatter the rubbish, it's OK," he said.

"If it's on the public road, there's nothing you can do," Shimizu said. "They find something, good for them."

Takamura said the city also is looking into expanding the school collection sites and setting up some partnership with nonprofit organizations so people could make drop-offs at the parks into a bin that's secured somehow. "They just throw it in."

Wrath likes that idea. She calculated that the small number of bottles and cans she would recycle each month adds up to about $3 worth, making it not worth her time to go stand in line at a redemption center.

"If there was a place that I could drop off for a charity, I would do that," she said.

If you have a question or a problem and need help getting to the right person, you can reach The Bureaucracy Buster three ways:

Write to:

The Bureaucracy Buster
The Honolulu Advertiser
605 Kapi'olani Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96813

E-mail: buster@honoluluadvertiser.com

Phone: 535-2454 and leave a message. Be sure to give us your name and daytime telephone number in case we need more information.