Question: Starting in July, everyone on Oahu will need to make an appointment for bulky rubbish pickup. Will there be a specific day of the month that each area will be assigned for pickup, or will the city be picking up items in the same area multiple times a month? I live in a condominium, and our property management has issues controlling bulky rubbish. A specific day would help control when items are placed out for pickup.
Answer: How many times a month a city pickup crew visits the same condominium building could depend on whether the building’s residents schedule their own pickups or whether the building’s manager opts out of that standard system in favor of scheduling pickups for multiple dwellings at once. It sounds like you prefer the latter, so talk to your resident manager or condo association to ensure that it contacts the city to schedule a single monthly pickup. A multi-unit building has one option or the other, but not both, said Markus Owens, spokesman for the city Department of Environmental Services.
As you said, starting July 1, Honolulu County will collect bulky items only by appointment, made at www.opala.org. The new system is going islandwide after having been piloted from Foster Village to Hawaii Kai. June marks the last month that trucks will roam neighborhoods on a set monthly route, looking for bulky items at the curb, without knowing in advance that the property owner is throwing anything away. Besides an appointment, the new system also requires residents to say what they will be setting curbside — only those acceptable items will be carted away when the appointment date arrives.
Here are the basics, from ENV:
>> The new system applies to Oahu’s individual residences and multi-unit residential buildings. Each address may have one appointment a month, except in Waikiki, where weekly pickups are allowed. Multi-unit buildings must choose one of two options (see details).
>> Schedule an appointment at opala.org. You must input your address and the type and quantity of items you are disposing of. If you lack internet access, call 768-3200 during regular business hours and choose option “0.” An ENV employee will help you make an appointment.
>> Leave items curbside no earlier than 6 p.m. the night before pickup.
>> Single-family homes may dispose of up to five bulky waste items per appointment. Metal appliances require a separate appointment; two metal appliances are accepted per appointment.
>> For multi-unit residential buildings, the default option is that each individual unit can make its own appointment for pickup of up to five bulky items or two metal appliances a month, Owens said. However, multi-unit buildings may “opt out” of that default option, and “a property or resident manager may manage and schedule appointments for the entire building, limiting the total amount of items to 20 bulky items or eight metal appliances per appointment. Separate appointments must be made for bulky items and metal appliances,” Owens said.
To “opt out” of the default (appointments made by individual units), a property manager should contact the city’s Refuse Division at collection@honolulu.gov or call 768-3200 and press option “0.”
A building cannot use both options, he said. Scheduling for the whole building means there will be only one bulky pickup date for that building per month, so residents must work with the property manager to organize timely disposal among all units.
Read more at 808ne.ws/bulkypickup.
Mahalo
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