EDITORIAL
Recycling program's flaws must be fixed

One would think that Hawai'i — where a stunning natural environment is one of our greatest resources — would be at the forefront in recycling. But the reality is we lag in this effort to an embarrassing degree.

Hawai'i's bottle law is meant to be a step in the right direction. Yet, almost three months after the state's bottle refund system went into effect, flaws have resulted in a low return rate.

One complaint has been that consumers pay a 5-cent deposit per can or bottle, but do not get the full 5 cents back when they redeem the recyclables because empties are weighed rather than counted. So, the state raised the rate from 60 cents per pound to 83 cents for plastic containers, and 12 cents per pound for eligible glass containers, up from 10 cents.

And a bill moving through the Legislature would allow plastic and aluminum containers to be crushed before redemption, making them easier to store.

Those are all good improvements, but they're not enough.

Consumers also complain about long lines and inconvenient hours at redemption centers. Officials have more than doubled the number of redemption sites and lengthened their hours since the program began, but more must be done to make recycling more convenient.

Hawai'i's lawmakers mandated redemption centers, instead of having supermarkets and stores accept beverage containers and issue refunds, to appease retailers. Too bad lawmakers didn't think about consumers in this equation.

Convenience is key to making the law work. Retailers should allow recycling companies to set up redemption centers at their stores. If the state can't persuade retailers to step up, it must make hours at redemption centers fit with consumers' busy schedules.

Beyond fixing the bottle law, recycling must be part of our daily routine. That means reflexively sorting our trash — glass, plastic, aluminum, paper and green waste. Government has to do its part, too.

The battle over implementing the city's curbside recycling program has gone on for too long. Mayor Mufi Hannemann said recently the administration's goal is to launch the much-delayed program this summer in Mililani, Wahiawa and from Mokule'ia to Waimanalo. The rest of the island should begin in the fall, he said. Let's hope that encouraging timetable comes to fruition.

Missteps aside, the state bottle law and the city's curbside program are complementary efforts that move us ahead on the recycling front. But perhaps the most important role rests with consumers who must buy into the programs. Recycling, after all, must be a collective effort.