Posted on: Thursday, March 24, 2005

Officials fine-tune bottle law

By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer

State officials yesterday increased the amount paid to consumers recycling bottles by the pound, and lawmakers moved closer to allowing the return of crushed cans and plastic bottles.

Officials are tweaking Hawai'i's new bottle law to encourage consumers to claim their 5-cent deposits.

Since Jan. 1, consumers have been able to take bottles to recycling centers and get back the deposit, but only a small fraction have done it. The law, which was intended to cut litter, has been criticized as a tax because it is so difficult to return bottles.

Consumers have complained that although they pay a 5 cent deposit for each bottle, they don't get 5 cents back when their empties are weighed instead of counted one by one at the recycling centers. So yesterday the state increased the amount it pays per pound.

The state Department of Health said consumers now will receive 83 cents per pound of redeemable plastic containers, up from 60 cents, and 12 cents per pound for eligible glass containers, up from 10 cents. The aluminum rate of $1.50 per pound was not changed.

Another hassle for would-be recyclers has been the requirement that aluminum and plastic containers not be crushed before they are redeemed. That rule likely will change under a new bill that is moving quickly through the Legislature.

"If they allowed you to take in crushed cans, redemptions would go up," said Dennis Yankee of Hawai'i Kai, who hasn't been collecting his deposits because of the difficulty of following all the new rules. Yankee said he avoids the hassles by donating his empties to Kaiser High School, which accepts them in any form.

As with Yankee, most consumers have decided the 5 cents is not worth the trouble it takes to return bottles. The state collected $7.48 million in deposits as of Jan. 31, but had paid back only $600,398 as of Feb. 28.

Lawmakers, looking for ways to boost participation, are close to reversing the rule that says you can't return crushed aluminum cans and plastic bottles.

"One of the reasons we didn't want the containers destroyed before they were redeemed (under the original bottle law) was to cut down on the potential for fraud," said Hermina Morita, D-14th (Kapa'a, Hanalei), who introduced the bill that would reverse that requirement. "Once they're redeemed they're destroyed, which cancels out the redemption value."

But that didn't go over well with Hawai'i consumers, many of whom lack the storage space for bags full of uncrushed cans and bottles.

"Especially for people with small apartments or houses, it's a space issue," said Laura Lott, spokeswoman for the state Health Department, which administers the bottle law.

Lott said the state is coming up with several changes as part of process of review and adjustment as the bottle law is implemented.

House Bill 1015 — which passed the Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing Committee yesterday — would allow redemption centers to accept flattened containers as long as the refund value is still visible. The 5-cent redemption value is typically on the lid of 12-ounce aluminum cans, which means the cans could be crushed from the top down and still be exchanged for a nickel. The bill now goes to the Senate Ways and Means Committee. It has passed the House and is supported by Gov. Linda Lingle's administration.

One note: If consumers crush their containers, they won't be able to receive redemptions from reverse vending machines, which provide refunds by reading the bar codes on containers.

Besides expressing concern about the per-pound redemption amount and inability to return crushed containers, consumers also have complained about long lines and a lack of convenient hours at redemption centers.

The Health Department has been adding more centers. There are now 11 mobile and 54 fixed redemption sites statewide, which is more than double the number of sites at the time the program began, the department said.

Although the addition of centers will help, it doesn't eliminate the inconvenience of having to return containers to redemption centers instead of to the locations that sold the beverages. While some redemption centers have set up near stores, retailers still aren't required to redeem containers.

Without that improvement, Yankee, the Hawai'i Kai consumer, said it will still be tough to get his money back on bottles. The closest center to him is at the Hawaii Kai Park and Ride and it is only open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The center's limited non-workday hours raises the potential for long waits on Saturdays, he said.

"Bring a soda and a plate lunch because you'll need it," Yankee said. "It's gonna be packed."

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8093.