Kauai lawmakers approve ‘pay as you throw’ trash bill

The Kauai County Council approved on first reading a bill that aims to boost recycling and increase revenue for waste disposal.

The Council voted 7-0 Wednesday on Bill 2551, which proposes a "Pay as You Throw" program and offers residents the choice of using 64-gallon or 96-gallon trash carts.

At the meeting, Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said Kauai would be the first county in the state to institute the program. "I hope we can see this bill to passage and implementation," she said.

Under the bill, residents who opt for the smaller cart would continue to pay $12 a month for refuse collection. Customers who continue to use the standard 96-gallon cart would be charged $21 a month. The county currently issues residents one 96-gallon cart or allows them to set out up to three 32-gallon bins.

The program could generate about $3.51 million, or an additional $770,000 in revenue, officials said.

County officials say the program would encourage residents to divert some of the waste now going to the landfill.

A public hearing is scheduled for Sept. 24.

According to the Department of Public Works, more than 7,000 communities nationwide use the "pay as you throw" concept.

Each household in the county now pays $12 a month for refuse collection services: a $6 base fee that goes to operation of the county’s refuse collection program and an additional $6 for either manual or automated refuse collection service.

Automated collection customers use 96-gallon carts. Residents with manual collection set out their own trash bins, up to three 32-gallon containers, curbside.

According to the bill, the county plans to automate all refuse collections beginning July 1, 2015, offering 64- or 96-gallon carts.