Shipping some of O'ahu's trash to a Mainland landfill would cost at least $9.9 million a year — almost $2.5 million more than previous estimates — based on bids from three companies vying for the first city contract.

The $9,983,000 estimate is based on the low bid, from Hawaiian Waste Systems, which says it will cost $99.83 per ton to complete the work for the city.

The city budgeted $7.5 million for the coming fiscal year, but officials said there is ample money available since the service won't start until the end of the year at the earliest.

"As long as the company meets the requirements, we should be ready to roll," said City Councilman Todd K. Apo. "Optimistically, (service could start) in September or October, but if we're not doing this by the end of the calendar year, we're doing something wrong."

The three-year contract, with an option for two additional years, requires the winning bidder to ship 2,050 tons of trash per week and up to 100,000 tons a year to a Mainland landfill.

"We've received three bids to ship 100,000 tons of trash offisland, and we will be reviewing them in the coming weeks," said Eric S. Takamura, director of the county Department of Environmental Services.

"At this point, we're on schedule for July 1, 2009. We have yet to review the bids and select the contractor and, until we do that, we will not have a definite schedule."

The program could run as high as $20,421,000 a year if the high bidder, Off-Island Transfer, receives the contract. It bid $204.21 per ton to ship trash.

Simcoe Environmental Services Inc., another company seeking the work, said it would charge the city $184.47 per ton.

By comparison, it costs less than $30 per ton to dump municipal solid waste into the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.

The city will review the bids, beginning with the lowest bidder, to see if they meet the qualifications. The process should take two to four weeks.

The amount that would be shipped is less than 6 percent of the total 1.76 million tons of solid waste O'ahu generates annually, but proponents say it's one of several alternatives that will slow the closure of the island's main landfill and allow for the expansion of waste-to-energy technology.

If the contractor ships more than 100,000 tons in a given year, it will be paid 90 percent of total annual operating and maintenance costs per additional ton.

The latest state Health Department data released in January show O'ahu kept 30.8 percent of its waste out of the landfill in fiscal year 2006.

The low bidder, Hawaiian Waste Systems, has been lobbying the city for the work since 2003, and said it is ready to start service by October.

Tim Hodge, general counsel of the Seattle-based company, confirmed his company has bought a 2.7 acre trans-shipment facility in Campbell Industrial Park, less than three-fourths of a mile from the landfill, and has received approval from the state Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to begin shipping O'ahu's trash.

"If they agree to start early, we could start in the fall," Hodge said.

Attempts to reach the other two bidders was unsuccessful yesterday.