WAILUKU — Maui County's recycling coordinator is positive that the new food can recycling program, allowing residents to assist in keeping empty tins of pet food, beans and soups out of landfills, will be a success.

"The drop-box program now has a small container for clean, rinsed food cans with the lids removed. The labels can stay," Hana Steel told The Maui News.

Earlier this month, the county recycling division announced that the program will accept food cans at its county recycling centers, which already accept a medley of other recyclables — glass, plastics, newspaper and cardboard.

Food cans are not redeemable under the state's HI-5¢ beverage container redemption program.

But the metal in food cans can be recycled. Food cans that can be recycled include those for soups, meats, fruits and vegetables, tomato sauce and coffee.

Those foods are canned in steel, tin, aluminum or bimetal containers.

Steel said the county has entered into an agreement with Maui Disposal to accept and sort the cans. Maui Disposal also handles the county's recycling drop boxes.

Steel urges consumers to clean their cans before recycling them.

"Look, this is the way it is. We really want people to recycle. But if you don't rinse and clean your food can, don't recycle them. Real people work at Maui Disposal. They're not interested in smelling rotten cat food," she said.

Steel said last week that it's too early to gauge public response to the program, as the county tracks its recycled items month by month.

But, "we're positive it's going to be good," she said.

Greg Apa, executive vice president of Maui Disposal, said the company has already been sorting food cans left in county drop-off bins with other materials.

Apa said bimetal food cans have "zero value" as scrap metal that costs more for handling than recyclers will pay. Metal recyclers prefer "pure" metals, but Maui Disposal will handle all types of metal cans, he said.

"It's a community service, really," Apa said.

Keeping food cans out of the landfill is also a public benefit, he said.