The residential recycling program announced yesterday by Mayor Mufi Hannemann is part of a new 10-year action plan for sustainability and environmental protection.

The city has set goals to conserve water and energy, use alternative and renewable fuels, enhance public transportation, and protect O'ahu's forests, reefs and bays, Hannemann said.

"We can become the model for the Pacific rim community," he said. "As an island community, self-sufficiency is a way to maintain our quality of life and is in keeping with the wisdom of our Polynesian ancestors who were able to balance the needs of their communities, or ahupua'a, with the limits of nature."

The planning has been guided by the Mayor's Energy and Sustainability Task Force, Hannemann said.

A 60-page report lays out the city's goals, and "this administration's, and other administration's, feet can be held to the fire to ensure that we are going to make a major commitment in this regard," he said.

In November, the city will launch a "green parking" pilot program that will provide preferential parking at the municipal parking garage for city employees who drive hybrid or biodiesel-powered vehicles.

The program will later be extended to the public at other city facilities, Hannemann said.

City transportation director Melvin Kaku said the program will likely be tied to a fee that eligible drivers could pay to receive placards that would entitle them to preferential parking in city garages and lots, similar to handicapped parking accommodations.