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Container and Packaging
Recycling UPDATE
Summer/Fall 2001 Issue

HONOLULU - Moving with remarkable speed, the Hawaiian House and Senate took less than 3 months to approve a bill in the 2001 legislative session requiring a refundable deposit on a wide range of beverages. Changes made in the senate mean that differences must be ironed out in a conference committee before a vote on final passage can take place.

Only about 1 in 5 beverage containers get recycled now, out of an estimated 880 million bottles and cans sold last year. Unsightly litter is seen as a real threat to Hawaii's image as a pristine vacation destination, since tourism is the state's leading industry. Combined with rapidly diminishing landfill space in this island state, coping with beverage container waste became an immediate priority in 2001.

Another key factor, according to knowledgeable sources on all sides of the issue, is frustration with broken promises over a period of years by the food and beverage industry, to address the problem and increase recycling.

State and local officials took the lead in developing the deposit legislation tailored to Hawaii's needs, using what they describe as a 'collaborative approach'. Elements of several different deposit systems were combined in a unique new proposal.

Representative Hermina M. Morita introduced the bottle bill, House Bill 1256, in late January 2001. Morita chairs the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee. In an interview with CRI, Morita said she introduced the bill at the request of local solid waste officials and elementary school students at the Kualapuu School.

The Morita bill went through a maze of six committees and floor votes in both houses of the Legislature before arriving in conference committee in April 2001. Opponents of the bottle bill in the food and beverage industry asked for and were granted time to develop an alternative, and are funding a study by Cascadia Consulting of Seattle.

Rep. Morita said legislators are expecting a progress report in September and a final report before the Legislature returns for the next session in January 2002.

"Unless the industry comes up with an alternative acceptable to the Legislature, the bottle bill could be voted out within 72 hours," Richard Botti, executive director of the Hawaii Food Industry Association told CRI in a recent interview.

Hawaii stands poised to become the first state to adopt a beverage container deposit law since 1986. But opponents are working hard behind the scenes to peel away support, while the industry study moves forward.

CRI research and interviews revealed several factors leading to swift action on the bottle bill this year. While litter, tourism and landfill concerns prompted the legislation, it appears that a unique coalition led by state and local public officials found a receptive audience among legislators. Supporters of the Morita bill include local solid waste and recycling officials, the State Department of Public Health, recycling businesses, environmental groups and a determined group of elementary school students. The bottle bill has received editorial support from leading newspapers.

Some of the sources contacted by CRI describe the bottle bill as a 'litmus test' issue for the Hawaiian Legislature in 2002. Whether the public weighs in during the next few months may determine the outcome of this legislative battle.

Protecting Island Beauty and the Tourism Industry

"Unsightly litter on beaches, roadsides and in parks is a problem that the bottle bill would greatly reduce," says Genny Salmonson, director of Hawaii's Office of Environmental Quality Control. Salmonson, an appointee of Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano, has a recycling background and has worked on solid waste concerns for several years in state government.

Bottle bills reduce litter, address the growing problem of beverages consumed away from home and the growing problem of plastic bottle waste, Salmonson told CRI.

Tourism is vital to the state's economy, which has experienced a major downturn. While keeping tourist dollars flowing is deemed essential, it also poses special problems for recycling.

"We have 1.2 million residents in Hawaii. More than 7 million tourists visit every year," said Honolulu Recycling Coordinator Suzanne Jones. Recycling and waste reduction programs are well developed, but the problem of bottle and can waste just keeps getting worse, particularly as new types of beverages and packaging have entered the marketplace in the past two decades.

Food and beverage industry opponents have long advocated curbside recycling as an alternative. Local government in Honolulu, the state's largest population center, has so far rejected curbside recycling as too expensive and largely ineffective as a means of coping with bottles and cans discarded by tourists.

The problem with curbside recycling in Hawaii according to Honolulu's Deputy Director for Solid Waste, Frank Doyle, is that "7 million tourists don't have curbs."

The hotel industry will benefit directly from passage of deposit legislation. "Hotels currently pay employees to collect bottles and cans for recycling. With HB 1256, they will receive an estimated $500,000 to $750,00 in income each year from refunds on deposits," Jones said.

Collaborative Approach to Developing 21st Century Bottle Bill

Until this year, bottle bills have been proposed for many years without success. One key difference in the proposal introduced in the 2001 Legislative Session was the process for developing it.

"We took a collaborative approach," said Jones. Representatives of state and local government, recycling businesses, environmental organizations and other concerned citizens worked together. Bottle bill proponents reached out to the opposition in the food and beverage industry, attempting to address as many of their concerns as possible.

Proponents also decided to develop legislation tailored to Hawaii's needs and evolving beverage markets. Elements of traditional deposit laws and alternative approaches were blended together.

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