OK ahead for
Waianae, E. Oahu
redemption sites

They would satisfy a
requirement of at least
one center every two miles

CORRECTION Sunday, July 3, 2005 » The Aina Haina Foodland store will offer redemption of HI-5-labeled beverage containers on 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Fridays and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sundays, beginning Friday. A Wednesday article about new redemption centers had incorrect Sunday times. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

Officials expect to approve new Oahu container recycling locations this week for two areas considered underserved by the state's effort to get consumers to redeem their bottles and cans for the nickel deposits.

By approving one new redemption center in Waianae, one in Aina Haina and extending the permit for an existing mobile site in Kahala, the state will satisfy the "bottle bill" requirement that urban areas of Honolulu have at least one redemption center every two miles by July 1.

The new sites are expected to be:

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The Department of Health's Solid and Hazardous Waste Division, which administers the Hawaii Deposit Beverage Container Program, expects to sign the paperwork approving those locations on Friday, said Larry Lau, deputy director for Environmental Health.

State law sets July 1 as the deadline for a minimum coverage of redemption centers on Oahu. But the Health Department can't approve new sites before then because revised rules for the program take effect that day, Lau said.

When the sites actually start operation will depend on agreements between store management, landlords and redemption service providers, Lau said.

Waianae Store manager Kyle Okimoto said his store applied in April to have Reynolds Recycling set up a redemption center in his store parking lot and he doesn't know what the holdup has been.

"I was hoping to get it in by the end of May," Okimoto said yesterday. "It's not like I'm trying to get a permit for a nuclear power plant."

The nearest redemption center on the Waianae Coast is in Nanakuli, he said.

Times Kahala, 1173 21st Ave., has been offering redemption of beverage containers two days a week since the refunds for containers with the "HI-5" labels began in January, said store operations director Bob Stout. The store has applied for a new permit to continue the service on a permanent basis, he said.

The mobile unit that Rolloffs Hawaii operates at Times Kahala on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., could be complemented by mobile units at other Kahala locations other days of the week, Stout said.

Richard Ho, Star Market purchasing director, confirmed that his company is talking with the state and Kahala Mall management about possible options for using the parking lot there for mobile redemption.

"We're telling the state, we explained we don't have space" inside the store for redemption, Ho said.