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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 3:26 a.m., Thursday, November 1, 2007

Pilot recycling program kicking off in Mililani

Advertiser Staff

The launch of the city's pilot recycling program in the communities of Mililani and Hawaii Kai starts today.

Instructional brochures have been attached to the inside of recycling bins at delivery to each participating home.

Mililani begins with the blue bin and Hawaii Kai begins with the green bin on their first recycling days.

The following week, residents of Mililani will set out their green bins, and Hawaii Kai the blue bins.

The pilot project calls for the communities to continue to alternate weekly thereafter.

The first collection of mixed recyclables will take place in Mililani today. That means people in Mililani will have their regular trash pickup on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in their gray bins, and their second collection will be of blue bins on Thursday (for the Monday-Thursday schedule), Friday (for the Tuesday-Friday schedule) and Saturday (for the Wednesday-Saturday schedule).

All of Hawaii Kai is on a Wednesday-Saturday schedule, so residents will have their regular trash collection on Wednesday. And on Saturday, the city will be collecting green waste in the green bins that have been distributed.

"We will continue twice a week trash collection through the holiday season and the end of the year," Mayor Hannemann said, "to give people a two-month period to get used to sorting recyclables into their blue and green bins."

Beginning the week of January 7th, there will be no second-day refuse pickup in either Mililani or Hawaii Kai. Subject to approval by the City Council, Mililani residents will have an option of paying for a third weekly collection for refuse for a $10 per month fee.

Hawaii Kai residents will be asked to work within the simpler system of twice weekly collection, one for trash and one for recyclables. The city will compare results from each community.

Both communities may request additional green bins for green waste and an additional gray bin to accommodate large volumes of non-recyclable refuse to be collected on the regularly-scheduled trash pickup day at no charge.

Go to www.opala.org to view monthly calendars and recycling information.