A ban on the sale of
single-use plastic bottles at all city-owned properties is set for an upcoming Honolulu City Council vote.
If adopted, Bill 18 would prevent plastic bottles
having a capacity of 1 liter or less to be sold or offered for sale after Dec. 31 at any vending machine located at a city facility.
The bill exempts the state-run Business Enterprise Program — also known as the licensed Blind Vendor Program — which operates vending facilities at federal, state, county and private properties on Oahu and across Hawaii, offering blind persons gainful employment.
Introduced in February by Council Vice Chair Matt Weyer, the measure — similar to Bill 59, which Weyer sponsored in 2024 but that failed to garner a majority Council vote — says “plastics entering the environment have had a demonstrable
adverse effect on the health of the people of the City and County of Honolulu, as well as the environmental integrity of our islands.”
“Single-use plastic containers have been major contributors to pollution on land and in the ocean, harming both marine and other wildlife, and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions,” the bill states.
It notes a “significant
portion of marine debris — estimated to be 80 percent — originates on land, primarily as escaped plastic
refuse and other human generated urban runoff.”
“Certain single-use plastic containers, such as polyethylene terephthalate bottles, are not fully degradable but instead only degrade into pieces and particles of various sizes, including microplastics, which can ultimately enter human bodies through the food stream and have been linked to serious human health problems,” the bill states.
While the bill says the rate of plastic bottle recovery in Hawaii is about 37%, the legislation also claims that “readily available alternatives such as aluminum containers enjoy a recovery rate of 55 percent, and cardboard containers can be readily burned and converted to fuel the city’s power needs through the H-POWER plant.”
“The diversion of plastic bottles from the city’s waste stream further supports the city’s efforts to reduce the annual generation of solid waste,” the bill states.
Still, the American Beverage Association, which previously opposed Bill 59, rejected the latest measure, too.
“The American Beverage Association is the trade association representing the non-alcoholic beverage industry across the country and here in Hawaii,” ABA Vice President of State Government Affairs West David Thorp said in written testimony to the Council’s Housing Committee. “The beverage industry is an important part of Hawaii’s economy — and one of the few remaining industries still manufacturing on the islands.”
“Unlike most consumer products, many of our beverages, aluminum cans and plastic bottles are manufactured and distributed in
Hawaii by local workers,”
he said.
Nonalcoholic beverage companies in Hawaii provide 1,200 good-paying jobs across the state, according to Thorp.
“The industry helps to support thousands more workers in businesses that rely in part on beverage sales for their livelihoods, such as grocery stores, restaurants and theaters,” he said.
He said, “Hawaii beverage companies are taking bold actions to reduce their use of new plastic and make sure their bottles do not end up in nature or wasted in landfills.”
“We are carefully designing our bottles to be 100% recyclable, even the caps,” Thorp added.
During the April 1 committee meeting, Council members Andria Tupola and Augie Tulba opposed Bill 18 as well.
“I do think that even though it’s narrow, we do need to be aware that there’s not a law needed for everything,” said Tupola, “and we could change our contracts at the city, which might be an even more powerful way to decrease waste, seeing as all of the things we have shipped in are all wrapped in plastic.”
She said that within her Council District 1, which spans the Leeward Coast, there are “people that work in these industries,” too.
And the “plastic bottles that you’re referring to are not single-use, and many of them are recycled, and I hope all of us can continue to support our recycling efforts as we try to decrease landfills on our island,” she added.
Conversely, Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam said although some allege Bill 18 will “be a significant burden to the plastic producers here on this island,” there were, in fact, few vendor locations that would be affected.
He said that according to information he’d gathered from various agencies, including the city Department of Enterprise Services, there are 11 vending machines installed at city parks and only a few others at similar facilities.
“I think it’s a total of less than 30,” he said. “So, to the extent that this is going to be a burden to the plastic producers, I think that we can tamp that down and just talk about the reality of” the situation.
He added that the measure “sends a signal that we, the Council, do take these issues seriously.”
“And, to the extent that we can say in our vending machines we’d like to reduce the number of single-use bottles, I think that’s a positive signal that we can send,” Dos Santos-Tam asserted. “Bill 18 is a very limited, narrow but positive step.”
The committee voted 3-2, with Tulba and Tupola dissenting, to recommend the full Council pass Bill 18 on its expected third and final reading April 16.
