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Question: What will happen to those big recycling bins conveniently located at schools, where we recycle newspapers, paper and glass containers? I’m sad and disappointed that a lot of schools are having them removed. Because I live in a small co-op, we don’t have our own recycling setup. It would be nice if those bins could get reinstated.
Answer: The city terminated its contract with Honolulu Disposal Service for 100-plus community recycling bins in June and does not plan to renew it.
Honolulu Disposal Service, through its affiliate Honolulu Recovery Systems, will continue to offer the bins at 49 locations as a community service, as long as it can break even on costs. For sites, go to the city recycling website, is.gd/kC0vAK.
The company is operating the program at no cost to taxpayers or schools, said Suzanne Jones, the city’s recycling coordinator.
In a commentary published July 11 in the Star-Advertiser‚ Jones said that as residents of 160,000 households began using their blue curbside recycling bins, use of community bins dropped by about 70 percent.
The city plans to issue the recycling bins to an additional 1,200 homes on the North Shore this fall, she said, while plans for another 18,800 homes “are in the works.” Jones also described options for apartment-dwellers (is.gd/pUdGqB).
In deciding to continue the program, Greg Apa, senior vice president of Honolulu Disposal Service, said the company looked at whether the materials received would pay for the costs of hauling, sorting, baling and “of course, not inexpensive, the shipping.”
Of the previous 108 bins at various locations, 53 appeared to collect enough material — 1.3 tons to 1.6 tons a month each — to make it feasible, Apa said. Of those, 49 were at schools, four of which chose not to participate anymore.
“Because we’re just breaking even on it, there was no way we could continue paying the schools money back,” Apa said. But as long as “we get enough material to pay for our costs, we’ll continue to keep those cans out for those 49 locations.”
Meanwhile the City Council tried to continue the “white bin” program for at least another year, earmarking $2.4 million for it in the 2013 budget.
According to the office of Council Chairman Ernie Martin, he and Ann Kobayashi, chairwoman of the Budget Committee, met with Mayor Peter Carlisle on July 3, “at which time the mayor indicated that he was not inclined to release the funds.”
Instead, Martin’s office told us, Carlisle “stated that he was willing to work with the Kokua Foundation and other community groups on educational programs to further strengthen the city’s commitment towards recycling.”
Q: Since recycling bins have been removed, we have to depend on our blue recycling containers. As they get picked up only two times a month, trash overflows. Shouldn’t they be picked up weekly to prevent litter from flying all over our streets?
A: The city has no plans to go to weekly pickups, said a spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Services.
He pointed to the community bins still available at 49 locations, “as well as numerous redemption centers throughout the island” that residents can use.
That said, households may request a second blue bin. Call the Recycling Office at 768-3200.
There is no charge for additional bins. “However, the households will be asked to demonstrate a need,” the spokesman said.
To that end, be prepared for city personnel to inspect and monitor your blue bins.
MAHALO
To a guy holding No. 3 while waiting in line at the city Building Department on July 18. Walking in is very intimidating to a first-timer. I really appreciate you letting me go ahead of you to ask my questions. I’m sure you had been waiting a long time. — N. Arakaki
Write to "Kokua Line" at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
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