Beverage container fee will not increase yet

There will be no increase in the beverage container fee for at least the next 12 months, the state Department of Health announced Tuesday.

The 5-cent deposit will continue to be charged, along with a 1-cent fee for administrative costs of the recycling plan, the department said.

Under state law the fee must be increased by a half-cent if the annual rate of redemption is above 70 percent.

The recycling program's annual redemption rate for the 12 months ending June 30 was about 68 percent, the department said.

More than 620 million glass, plastic and metal containers have been redeemed, keeping them out of landfills and helping to reduce litter, officials said.

"The goal of the program is to recycle containers," Health Director Chiyome Fukino said. "We've come a long way in a short time.

"The objectives for the upcoming fiscal year are to work with the recyclers to improve service at redemption centers and establish more sites and/or expand hours," she said.

During the fiscal year ending June 30, $39 million worth of nickel deposits were refunded to consumers, $13.6 million was paid out in handling fees to recyclers and $1.8 million went to the Health Department for administration of the program, the department said.

Because of unredeemed containers, the redemption program had about $19.3 million of uncommitted funds in its HI-5 account in May, Larry Lau, state deputy director for environmental health, said at that time. But if redemption rises above 70 percent, that extra money will dwindle, he said.

"Sixty-eight percent is pretty good," state Sierra Club Director Jeff Mikulina said.

He praised the state program with keeping recyclables out of the landfill and reducing the amount of litter on Hawaii coastlines.

The Sierra Club supports asking the Legislature to change the law next year, to allow the processing fee to be changed only when necessary to keep the fund from going dry, Mikulina said.