Pay-as-you-throw: Honolulu is tempted

In Tampa, Florida, suggestions about reducing kerbside rubbish collections are considered fighting words. But in Austin, Texas, converting from twice-weekly collection to a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) programme has succeeded in its goal of diverting waste from the landfill and encouraging more recycling. These two examples were cited in Hawaii’s Honolulu Advertiser, as Honolulu is now on the brink of joining the ranks of PAYT communities.



The City Council is considering a proposal that would eliminate one regular rubbish pickup a week and replace it with alternating green waste and kerbside recycling collection. Residents who want the second regular trash pickup would have to pay US$8 a month. The recycling programme would be offered to 160,000 residential households that currently have automated trash pickups. Another 80,000, primarily apartments, won’t be affected.



Some of the recycled goods will be used locally, with crushed glass turned into “glasphalt” pavement, plastic into lumber, and wood waste and paper into cellulose insulation and hydraulic mulch, according to a city spokeswoman. Other recycled products will be shipped to the Mainland and Asia, where the market for recyclable material is strong.



Harris’ proposal must be approved by the City Council, which could amend the programme. So far, the council’s chairman, Gary Okino, has suggested making the US$8 monthly fee mandatory to enable residents to keep the twice-a-week garbage collection.



If approved, the recycling programme could be implemented as early as July 1. Although the city did not model its recycling programme on any other municipal kerbside recycling programme, Harris’ proposal shares common elements with cities across the Mainland – where some have weekly trash collection, some share receptacles for garbage and recyclables, and others charge fees depending on the amount of trash produced.



San Diego has a programme that provides trash collection for no fee and is similar to the Honolulu mayor’s proposal. The programme in San Diego has a higher participation among residents than the 50 per cent projected for O’ahu.



“Our trash is collected every week and recycling is once every two weeks,” said Nicole Hall, supervising public information officer for the city of San Diego. About 80 per cent of residents recycle, she said.



The major difference is that San Diego’s trash bins are smaller, holding 64 gallons to Honolulu’s 96 gallons, but San Diego residents are given a separate bin for their recyclables. A second wheeled bin would cost US$70 in Honolulu. A second trash bin in San Diego runs to US$50.



In a clarification of details of Honolulu’s proposal, Frank Doyle, Honolulu’s acting director of environmental services, said the bins available for purchase can be used only for recycling and green waste and not as an additional garbage receptacle.



The city decided against providing a free recycling bin to each household because of the expense, he said. “We didn’t want to put up the extra money for cans because we don’t have it,” he said. The optional US$8 fee for second-day collection moves Honolulu closer to programmes around the country where user fees are determined by the amount of trash produced, Doyle said. For instance, Austin began scaling back to weekly trash collection in the early 1990s when a “pay-as-you-throw” programme was phased in.



Under this programme, residents choose a 30-, 60- or 90-gallon receptacle and pay a monthly base rate of US$11.75 to US$17.25, depending on the bin size. If the trash doesn’t fit into the container, residents can place US$2 stickers on additional garbage bags, or they will be billed US$4 for each bag without a sticker.



In one decade, the number of households increased by more than 30,000, and the amount of trash was reduced by almost 12,000 tons per year. Between 1991 and 2002, recycling rates jumped from just under 10 per cen