Recycling fervor surprises city
Cutting free pickup of trash to once a week from twice has worked wonders, officials say
Participation in the first three months of the city's curbside recycling pilot project in two communities has slowly increased, particularly in Hawaii Kai, surprising some city officials.
Since the city stopped providing the free second weekly trash pickup in January, city officials said, they have seen more Mililani and Hawaii Kai residents setting out their recycling bins and have collected more material.
"We were pleasantly surprised," said Eric Takamura, director of the Environmental Services Department. "In Mililani they had the pilot project before, so they're used to recycling programs. In Hawaii Kai we thought we would get a lot of push back, but the residents seem committed to recycling."
Suzanne Jones, city recycling coordinator, said it is still too early to draw conclusions from the data because the first two months were a transitional period for residents.
According to data presented Tuesday at a City Council committee meeting, Hawaii Kai residents have a higher set-out rate and are recycling more than Mililani residents during the last three months despite having fewer homes in their area.
For example, there were 631 mixed recyclables bins set out in one route in Hawaii Kai compared with 415 bins in Mililani during the first three weeks in January.
While city officials hope there are more increases in tonnage and the number of bins set out, they were satisfied with the quality of recyclables collected, meaning residents are recycling the right materials.
"What's most impressive of what we observed so far is how clean the materials have been," Jones said.
The city collects recyclable plastics labeled No. 1 or 2, corrugated cardboard and newspapers. They also want residents to stop using plastic bags when collecting their green waste.
Residents and the City Council have long called for a curbside recycling program after previous mayors launched pilot projects.
In October the city launched its yearlong $1.5 million pilot project, giving Mililani residents the option of paying $30 per quarter-year for the second weekly pickup while eliminating that collection for Hawaii Kai residents.
Mayor Mufi Hannemann had said then he wanted to launch the program differently in the two communities to see which option would work better when curbside recycling is taken islandwide. However, some believed Hannemann's decision was politically motivated because of disputes with Hawaii Kai's councilmember, Charles Djou.
"Despite the mayor's best effort to tick us off, it's going very well," Djou said yesterday. "It's been warmly received, and I think it will be warmly received around the island."
Takamura said at the City Council committee hearing that it would take about three years before an islandwide curbside recycling program is implemented in phases -- to the disappointment of several councilmembers.
"Three years is far too long," Djou said. "I think it shows a lack of enthusiasm by the administration for this project."
The city will be conducting surveys in the two communities and is expected to have a midyear report in June with detailed conclusions from the data.
THE CURBSIDE RECYCLING PILOT PROJECT
Mililani: 12,000 homes
Hawaii Kai: 8,000 homes
Of the 20,000 homes, 150 asked for an additional gray bin (for trash) and 270 for an additional green bin (for green waste).
MIXED RECYCLABLES COLLECTED (TONS)
|
Mililani |
Hawaii Kai |
November |
142 |
128 |
December |
200 |
124 |
January** |
120 |
128 |
GREEN WASTE COLLECTED (TONS)
|
Mililani |
Hawaii Kai |
November |
188 |
192 |
December |
208 |
224 |
January** |
210 |
305 |
NUMBER OF BLUE BINS SET OUT PER STUDY ROUTE*
|
Mililani |
Hawaii Kai |
November |
300 |
578 |
December |
325 |
600 |
January** |
415 |
631 |
NUMBER OF GREEN BINS SET OUT PER STUDY ROUTE*
|
Mililani |
Hawaii Kai |
November |
313 |
490 |
December |
298 |
610 |
January** |
406 |
618 |
*One route has about 1,000 homes.
**Free second weekly pickup ends. Information updated as of the third week of January. About 400 Mililani residents paid $30 per quarter-year for the second-day pickup. Hawaii Kai residents were not given that option.
Source: City Department of Environmental Services