A bill submitted by Hawaii’s State Senator Carol Fukanaga has recently been introduced into the state Senate. Senate Bill 2918 was originally introduced Jan. 25, and is in the Energy, Environment and International Affairs Committee and the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee.
A public hearing on the bill will be held Feb. 7. The bill, if passed in its present form would require any county in the state with a population of greater than 500,000 residents to implement a curbside collection of recyclables as a component of their solid waste management programs.
In calling for a much more comprehensive curbside program, the bill notes that the permit for Oahu’s main landfill will expire in May 2008. Also, a composition study performed in 1999 found that the island’s residential solid waste stream contains more than 43 percent paper, metal and glass, most of which could be recycled.
The bill would mandate that a curbside program would begin Jan. 1, 2008. The bill is looking to take effect July 1, 2006.