By 2025, specially designed plastic, paper and other materials that easily break down in the environment will be accepted inside Oahu curbside collection bins typically reserved for grass clippings, broken tree branches and raked leaves.
The Honolulu City Council voted 8-0, with Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam absent, to approve Bill 47 on Wednesday, allowing “manufactured compostable material” to be added to city green waste bins to promote sustainability and reduce the waste stream into the city’s landfill.
Items to dispose with yard clippings could include bags, takeout containers, coffee pods, food packaging, cups, plates and serviceware that are manufactured with compostable materials, the measure states.
Bill 47, introduced by Council members Matt Weyer and Radiant Cordero, will take effect April 1, 2025.
“I think it’s super exciting that we can soon go to any restaurant and get our takeout container and just throw that in with the food waste (and) the yard waste in one bin, and it all gets turned back into dirt,” Weyer said, prior to the vote.
In a statement after the meeting, Cordero said that “finding solutions for effective waste management is critical within our island-community.”
“By further defining the program for curbside recyclable material collection, our city has an excellent opportunity to both mitigate its environmental impact, along with reducing landfill burdens our island already faces,” she added.
Currently, the city Department of Environmental Services says it accepts green waste in its designated roll-off containers or other areas including at landfills, transfer stations or convenience centers.
Examples of acceptable green waste include grass clippings, leaves, branches, hedge and tree trimmings, stumps and logs less than 9 inches in diameter, palm fronds, coconuts and bean pods. Natural Christmas trees, with no flocking, are also accepted. Plastic bags are prohibited in green waste bins, the city says.
Curbside recycling is available islandwide.
Oahu generates more than 2.2 million tons of waste annually from residential, commercial and industrial sources, the city says. Of that, about 15% of trash is recyclable newspaper, aluminum, glass and plastic; 25% to 30% is compostable yard trimmings.
Honolulu recycles more than 400,000 tons of general material and 800,000 tons of construction and demolition material, the city says.
“The city’s goal is to minimize the use of landfill for waste disposal,” the ENV website states. “Waste-to-energy — or H-POWER — and recycling currently divert more than one million tons of waste from landfill annually.”
Meantime, the city has other options for those wishing to responsibly dispose of residential solid waste, green waste and metal, including propane tanks, bulky items and other recyclables.
On Oct. 27 a grand opening was held for the new $2.45 million Kapolei Convenience Center.
Built within the greater expanse of Campbell Industrial Park, the site at 91-184 Kaomi Loop is the 10th municipal waste disposal facility on Oahu. It’s also the first new facility of its kind since the Wahiawa Convenience Center opened in 1992, the city says.
In addition to Wahiawa and now Kapolei, five similar facilities are in Waianae, Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Laie and Waimanalo. These sites do not accept commercial or construction waste, the city says.
