Report Title:

Curbside Recycling; Solid Waste Management

Description:

Requires counties with greater than 500,000 residents to implement curbside collection of recyclable goods as a component of their solid waste management programs.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

3096

TWENTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2006

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

RELATING TO CURBSIDE RECYCLING.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii is facing a solid waste crisis. Landfill siting on all islands is a contentious issue, and the solid waste permit for Oahu’s main landfill, Waimanalo Gulch, will expire by May 2008.

Hawaii, however, lags behind many other states in the United States in its commitment to recycling, with less than one-third of its municipal waste being recycled. Further, Oahu residents generate an average of 6.2 pounds of trash daily. This amount is forty-one per cent greater than the national average (4.4 pounds per person) and two hundred ten per cent greater than the average amount of trash generated daily by German residents (less than two pounds daily).

Over ten thousand cities across the mainland have a curbside recycling program. Honolulu is the largest city in the country without a curbside program.

Without convenient curbside recycling, tens of thousands of tons of recyclable material will be disposed of annually, wasting natural resources, energy, and landfill space. A program that allows residents to recycle bottles, cans, food jars, cardboard, newsprint, and other recyclables at their own curb would vastly increase Hawaii’s real recycling rate.

The city and county of Honolulu 1999 waste composition study found that Oahu’s residential solid waste contains over forty-three per cent (or 137,000 tons) paper, plastics, metal, and glass, most of which could be recycled. Almost ninety thousand tons of paper are discarded annually from Oahu homes.

It is estimated that a well-run curbside recycling program in Honolulu could capture over forty thousand tons of recyclables annually. This figure is based on capture rates of curbside recycling programs in cities of comparable size, such as the city of Portland, Oregon, with approximately two hundred thousand households, whose curbside program diverted 48,200 tons of recyclables (inorganics) in 2000. Additionally, the city of San Diego (276,000 households) recycled seventy-two thousand tons with their curbside collection program in 2004. The city and county of Honolulu 1999 analysis of curbside recycling found that an average curbside collection program could capture about thirty-nine thousand tons of recyclables annually.

The benefits of a curbside recycling program extend beyond the environmental gains. The city of Mesa, Arizona (population 314,000) saved money by integrating curbside recycling into its solid waste management system. After implementing curbside recycling, the city was able to reduce the number of garbage pick-ups from twice per week to just once.

The purpose of this Act is to require any county with over five hundred thousand residents to adopt a comprehensive recycling program, including curbside collection of recyclable items.

SECTION 2. Chapter 46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part I to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§46-    Curbside recycling program. (a) No later than January 1, 2008, each county with a population of over five hundred thousand residents shall establish, implement, and administer a comprehensive recycling program in its respective county. The program shall include collection of recyclable items and conversion of those items into energy or recycled products.

(b) For purposes of subsection (a):

(1) Recyclable items include paper, newspaper, corrugated cardboard, plastic bottles, plastics, metal, rubber, glass, wood, aluminum cans, beverage containers, and other appropriate items but not including yard trimmings (green waste).

(2) Collection shall include direct collection of segregated recyclable items at residential, commercial, and government buildings, to the extent practicable.

(3) Each county may contract through competitive bidding for services, including contracting with another county or a private entity."

SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $          , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2006-2007, to assist the city and county of Honolulu in implementing section 2 of this Act.

The sum appropriated shall constitute the State's share of the cost of mandated programs under article VIII, section 5 of the state constitution.

SECTION 4. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the city and county of Honolulu for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2006.

INTRODUCED BY:

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