Statewide recycling plan
is too broad, legislators say

Focus on a simpler bottle bill,
they tell industry consultants

---

By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

State representatives grilled consultants touting a statewide recycling plan Tuesday, saying it may offer some long-term direction but is too broad to be implemented anytime soon.

"The study does not really address the bottle bill. It addresses the whole recycling problem -- which all of us agree needs to be solved," said Rep. Helene Hale (D, Kau-Puna).

"There's no bill before us to consider (broad-based) recycling," Hale said at a meeting of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, "but what we're considering is a very simple bottle bill."

That bill would have beverage distributors pay the state a fee for each bottle or can sold, with a refund to consumers for each one returned.

Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kailua) pressed to identify members of "Hawaii Citizens for Comprehensive Recycling," a beverage distributors coalition which funded the study: Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Hawaii Food Industry Association, Anheuser-Busch, Better Brands and Paradise Beverages.

"The thing I find quite misleading is the word 'citizen' in the name," Thielen said. "To my knowledge, Pepsi isn't a citizen, Coke is not a citizen."

Proponents of Hawaii's bottle bill see it as a way to recycle 750 million throw-away beverage containers in the islands every year, reducing litter and setting an example for youth.

The industry proposal by Cascadia Consulting Group of Seattle suggests a combination of curbside and drop-off recycling that would require significant changes in how county governments charge for garbage services.

Maui recycling coordinator Hannah Steele said her county alone would need $3.5 million of the proposed $5 million cost for the program to build a material recovery facility.

"If you are really sick of seeing bottles and cans all over these islands, e-mail your representatives (in support of the bottle bill), and tell them this is really the right thing to do for your state," said Steele.

Gary Gill, deputy state health director, cited barriers to making the industry proposal work.

"Each assumption, all the plans and programs would be implemented by someone else" other than the beverage industry, he said. "And if any one doesn't go through, all the rosy numbers disappear."

But he praised the industry group for doing the study. "I agree we need to double our efforts statewide. Our recycling rates are half of what our goals are."

"What can the Legislature do to promote recycling?" Gill asked. "You could pass the bottle bill."

---

Legislature Directory

Legislature Bills & Hawaii Revised Statutes

Testimony by email: testimony@capitol.hawaii.gov
Include in the email the committee name; bill number;
date, time and place of the hearing; and number of copies
(as listed on the hearing notice.) For more information,
see http://www.hawaii.gov/lrb/par
or call 587-0478.