Question: I was driving to work one morning, and it was pickup day for recyclables with all the blue containers out in front of the houses. I noted an individual working his way down the street and removing all the HI-5 components from the containers. Is this permitted? If not, who should we call? What does the City and County of Honolulu do with the HI-5 items?
Answer: The short answers: Call police if you see someone taking the recyclable containers; the city uses the money generated by all the collected recyclables to offset operational costs.
Section 9-1.6 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu — “Disturbing receptacle prohibited” — prohibits unauthorized persons from removing or disturbing not only recyclable material in the curbside bins, but any refuse or green waste as well.
“Scavenging or disturbing the containers at the curb in any way is unlawful, and the public should call the police to report” such activities, said Suzanne Jones, the city’s recycling chief.
She explained that revenue generated from the mixed recyclables is a combination of the market value of the commodities, plus subsidies from the HI-5 and ADF (advance disposal fee) nondeposit glass containers. The profit is split between the city and its recycling contractor.
In fiscal year 2011, $1.2 million was generated from the HI-5 containers, $400,000 from ADF glass and $2.4 million from the commodities market value, for a total of about $4 million.
The city has a revenue-sharing contract with the recycling processing facility, including processing fees, which resulted in a net return to the city of more than $1.5 million for the 20,000 tons of recyclables recovered in fiscal year 2011, Jones said.
Of that $1.5 million, $450,000 (30 percent) came from the HI-5 containers, $150,000 (10 percent) from the ADF glass and $900,000 (60 percent) from the commodity value.
“Those funds are used by the city to offset service costs,” Jones said. “So, those scavenging from the blue carts are stealing from the taxpayers of Oahu.”
She said the city actually benefits beyond the $1.5 million it receives from curbside recycling.
“Under the contract, the full value of the recyclable materials is first credited back to the city to cover the process charges, and then the remaining value is split 50-50 between the city and the contractor,” she said. “This means that the city received a gross revenue return of $2.55 million, of which a bit more than $1 million covered the processing charges of $50/ton.”
Jones described the revenue-sharing contract as “a progressive approach” that has the city and contractor sharing in both the benefits and risks of fluctuating recycling markets.
Question: During a recent trip I passed through TSA security at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. Posted was a sign that stated, “If you were born before 1937 it is not necessary to remove your shoes or light jackets.” Has TSA in Honolulu also instituted this convenient procedure?
Answer: If you are of a certain age, you can pass through airport security without removing your shoes or light jackets.
Not much publicity has been given to the Transportation Security Administration’s move to ease screening of airline passengers over the age of 75.
We found online references to the TSA in March testing out the policy at four airports, including O’Hare.
But Nico Melendez, spokesman for the TSA’s Pacific Region, said, “The program for passengers 75 and older has been in place at airports across the country since early this year.”
It earlier was instituted for passengers 12 years old and younger.
Asked whether there are signs alerting passengers to the new policy, Melendez said, “If passengers don’t already know (about it) when they get to the airport, our officers who check ID will be able to identify their eligibility.”
The modified screening policy doesn’t mean these older passengers won’t be subject to a pat-down or shoe removal. If “anomalies” are detected, they could be subject to closer screening. See is.gd/YkIghX for more information.
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