Bottle bill supporter
worries state won’t
be ready

The Sierra Club says Lingle
is dragging her feet with the law

One of the Hawaii bottle bill's strongest supporters questioned yesterday whether the state will be ready to implement the recycling program on Jan. 1.

Sierra Club officials said yesterday that the state Health Department has not hired staff to run the program nor begun an education campaign to explain it to the public.

"Our fear is the program will start and people will be unclear on why they're paying extra (for beverages) and unclear on where they go to receive nickels" that will be rebated when cans and bottles are returned, said Jeff Mikulina, director of the state Sierra Club.

"We don't want it to be another van cam, with people up in arms because they can't get their nickels back and there's no one to help them," he said.

Mikulina questioned whether Gov. Linda Lingle's administration, which opposed the bill, is delaying on purpose.

But state officials said that Mikulina is overreacting and that the program will start on time.

"The governor is committed to implementing the Deposit Beverage Container Law, and the department has been working very hard to organize the many components necessary for the success of the program," said Health Director Chiyome Fukino. "It is a great disservice to my staff and the state, and misleading to the public to say that we are not working aggressively to implement the law."

The department's Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch is "waiting for the green light" from the state Budget and Finance Department to hire six positions for the program and could chose a public relations firm for outreach work this week, said Steve Chang, branch chief.

The state began charging beverage distributors a half-cent per container two years ago and has amassed $6 million to kick off the program. On Oct. 1 that handling fee, which will cover the costs of redemption centers, will increase to 1 cent.

Retailers will begin charging customers the refundable 5-cents-per bottle or can as they put labeled merchandise on the shelves. However, the redemption centers that will pay people for their empties will not open until January.

The state hopes to approve more than 50 redemption centers, Chang said. As their opening draws nearer, their locations and how to use them will be widely publicized with in-store information, radio spots and other promotions, he said.

The law requires retailers to have all cans and bottles on their shelves to have the Hawaii-rebate labels by Jan. 1.

Carol Pregill, president of the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, said consumers might be confused when the labels appear on shelves before the end of the year even though the rebates will not be available until after Jan. 1.

Mikulina acknowledged that the transition will be a challenge for stores, but said, "The important thing is to know that the program's starting and there's a solid program in place where people know what to do and are comfortable with it."