It's encouraging to see that the upcoming recycling pilot projects in Mililani and Hawai'i Kai are being followed by a push to expand a program islandwide. Residents have made it clear that they support curbside recycling, and the time to turn that into concrete action is now.

Now that there's momentum, thanks in large part to voters, the city must do its part to ensure that the bidding process is as transparent as possible. Already, there is a perplexing substantial difference between the two bids that have been made: Honolulu Recovery Systems bid nearly $2.5 million; RRR Recycling Hawaii bid $95,000 — which leaves many wondering just how the bids are structured.

City spokesman Bill Brennan said the proposals will be made public once a contract is awarded in two weeks or so. But according to Alvin Washiashi, a purchasing specialist for the city, information may be withheld if it is deemed "proprietary."

As many remember, the bidding process is where the 2005 curbside recycling effort went awry. In a recent commentary, Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club, said that in 2005 a local recycling company not only bid to run the program but offered to pay the city to do so. He said recycling can be profitable for the city.

Not so, contends Brennan, who said that of the three companies that made a bid, only one said it would generate revenue; the two others would cost the city. The bid, he said seemed "too good to be true," and led to a challenge by the other bidders that would have "tied up any sort of mixed recyclable program for years."

Thus, the program was scrapped and the city focused on green-waste recycling.

The issue here, however, is not whether recycling is a lucrative business, but how the long-term benefits outweigh the costs. On an island, with a landfill fast approaching its capacity and trash that will soon have to be shipped off island, recycling is a no-brainer.

Let's hope the city will keep this mission on track through an open process and a commitment to do the right thing.