Setbacks now mean reaching goal using immediate options

Curbside recycling seemed like a good idea in the fall of 2003.

That was when then-Mayor Jeremy Harris announced the city would start a demonstration project in Mililani. It was proposed in the face of mounting pressure on our landfills and growing public awareness of the benefits of recycling.

In fact, I embraced the idea as an initiative I would like to support as mayor.

The Mililani project involved 10,000 homes and worked well enough for the city to announce a year later, in September 2004, that it would begin expanding curbside recycling, with the goal of making it islandwide within a year. But like a number of past projects, this one was launched without all the T's being crossed and the I's being dotted.

The Harris administration ordered roughly 50,000 blue, 64-gallon bins for the program.

A short time later, however, the United Public Workers, which represents refuse workers and other city blue-collar employees, challenged Harris' plan to expand and privatize this program, and the initiative was put on hold.

Meanwhile, the state's HI5 bottle redemption law had just gone into effect, and was beginning to change the nature and economics of recycling.

In addition, the blue bins that had been ordered were taking up expensive warehouse space, and once media reports surfaced about that, the Harris administration ordered the bins distributed to homes in Mililani, the North Shore and Windward O'ahu, despite the absence of any realistic starting date for curbside recycling.

That was the situation that greeted us when my administration took office in January. In discussions with the UPW, we resolved the union's concerns within a few weeks and were therefore ready to kickstart the program. However, the contractor that my predecessor had selected was unable to fulfill the contract requirements, so we had to cancel the contract in April. We then went out for bids on a new contract in an attempt to move the program forward again.

Three bids were submitted to recycle 30,000 tons a year of the roughly 1.5 million tons of refuse generated on O'ahu annually. Another snag appeared as one firm challenged the apparent low bid, triggering a lengthy process in order to comply with state procurement laws.

That process has dragged on for months, and even if the city were to proceed and sign a contract with one of the three bidders, one or both of the others would likely challenge that, which could ultimately send the matter to the courts, causing further delays.

Meanwhile, questions have been raised whether the three have required state pollution control permits.

Enough already. This has taken way too long, conditions have changed, legal challenges over the contract would likely have added months more to the delay, and I'm not one to promote false hopes and expectations.

Meanwhile, the City Council has encouraged us to work on recycling with community groups and schools. Many organizations, such as the Farrington Alumni Community Foundation and the Kailua High School Project Graduation, are using the HI5 program to raise funds.

At this point, I am convinced that working with the state and with schools and other organizations is a better way to achieve our goal of recycling a larger share of O'ahu's trash, rather than continuing to pursue a curbside recycling program with dwindling potential for ever getting started in its present form.

Besides, our schools and community groups stand to receive much-needed funding.

Our Department of Environmental Services will: