The city has increased chances for success in curbside recycling with the latest development in its initial rollout of the program: enlisting the participation of O'ahu's multifamily dwellings.

This week, city officials have announced plans to give condominium managers the incentive to try recycling by offering to reimburse some of the startup costs, and they've allocated $200,000 for the program's first year.

Of course, this is only a beginning: With each complex eligible for up to $2,000 in reimbursements, the first allotment will only cover a fraction of the more than 1,000 multifamily projects on the island.

But the apartment-dwellers' experience will compound what the city can learn in the first-year pilot of curbside recycling for the single-family residences in Mililani and Hawai'i Kai, without significantly increasing costs.

These rentals and condos generally have their trash hauled by private contractors, not the city-paid garbage collectors who make rounds in subdivisions.

Some already have implemented recycling on their own, with guidance from the city, because there is a built-in incentive: Building managers save money on refuse-hauling contracts because recycling reduces what needs to be picked up for the landfill.

However, some may have balked at setting up their own program because of the costs.

Having at least some of the expense covered should make the other necessary steps — planning for space to accommodate the recyclables and to control potential pest problems — less of a dealbreaker.

Recycling advocates from the Sierra Club have countered that stronger measures — such as mandates, as opposed to mere incentives — would propel the initiative closer to critical mass.

Ultimately a mandate would be ideal, but at this stage it would be impractical to compel recycling when the city is still working out the bugs.

Instead, the city should enhance its go-slow approach by stepping up its public education outreach to condo managers to ensure that they do it efficiently. If they do, the advantages should become clear, and recycling could become its own reward.