STAND. COM. REP. NO. 113

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1131

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Energy and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 1131 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RECYCLING,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a tiered glass advanced disposal fee system based on the capacity of a glass container.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health; Department of Environmental Services; Conservation Council of Hawaii; Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter; and Zero Waste Kauai.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawaii Food Industry Association, Retail Merchants of Hawaii, Tax Foundation of Hawaii, Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Wine Institute, and The Legislative Center.

 

     Your Committee finds that the glass advance disposal fee program was created as a state program in 1994.  Under the program, the Department of Health collects a fee of 1.5 cents per container from the distributors of non-deposit glass containers sold in the State.  The majority of the funds are passed to the counties in amounts proportional to population for the operation of glass buyback programs.

 

     Your Committee further finds that glass recycling lags behind other materials because of its lower material value and the fact that its higher density leads to higher shipping costs.  In an effort to increase glass recycling volumes, the City and County of Honolulu increased its payout rate in fiscal year 2011-2012.  The higher subsidy rate had the intended effect of increasing the amount of glass collected, due in part to the increased availability of glass recycling opportunities for the general public.  For the majority of the program's existence, collections have focused nearly exclusively on the commercial sector.  However, the higher payout rate encouraged recyclers to begin offering collection to the general public.  The increased collections forced the City and County of Honolulu to reduce the payout rate mid-year so that funds could last the duration of the fiscal year.  Without sufficient funding support for non-deposit containers through a subsidy program, the opportunities for glass recycling are very limited.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1131, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1131, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environment,

 

 

 

____________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair