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BUREAUCRACY BUSTER By
Robbie Dingeman
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Q. Did the state ever revise the rates paid to customers at the bottle and can redemption centers? I remember they were "studying" a change last year after a lot of us complained.
A. Yes, they changed the rates on May 1 statewide, according to the state Health Department. "As of May 1, new rates for HI-5¢ beverage containers that are weighed at redemption centers statewide should result in consumers receiving more money back" said state Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo.
And she said another change is coming on June 1, when the program will add a new special rate for small plastic containers.
"The rates were calculated through a scientific study to ensure consumers receive as accurate a refund as reasonably possible for containers that are weighed," said Karl Motoyama, of the Department of Health's Office of Solid Waste Management.
He said he hopes the new rates will prompt more people to recycle. Motoyama said the state will monitor what happens now and possibly update again.
The new rates (at 5 cents per container):
Beginning June 1, a new rate for small plastic bottles: will be: 1 pound of plastic bottles 17 fluid ounces or less = 22.7 containers. But Motoyama said consumers who want the small plastic bottle rate must separate the small bottles from those larger than 17 ounces or they get the lower rate for plastic bottles.
Q. Last year, you wrote about the lights being out at Ala Wai Community Park baseball field for more than a year and said that they might be fixed in the spring. Any word on when the lights might return?
A. Those were the light poles that were swaying in the wind and needed parts from the Mainland to fix them. The current update is that the contractor — Integrated Construction Inc. — recently received the anchor bolts to secure the poles and was supposed to be working on it this week, according to city Design and Construction Director Eugene Lee.
"The current contractual completion date for the work is July 17. However, we are waiting for a revised schedule from the contractor," Lee said.
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