State and city lawmakers are grappling with the question of how to control Hawai‘i’s garbage.
State legislators introduced dozens of waste-related bills at the start of the year — ranging from regulations on municipal waste disposal to cesspool conversion measures and more — but today those measures have winnowed down to two.
One of those bills, HB 750, would allocate $3 million to the Department of Health to conduct a needs assessment in order to eventually develop a plan to reduce the amount of packaging waste sent to the state.
“We’ve tried for years to get a program like this going,” said Kailua-Kona Rep. Nicole Lowen, lead introducer of the bill. “But finally we realized we need to do this one step at a time.”
Lowen said the findings of the needs assessment would eventually be used to expand the state’s Extended Producer Responsibility Program, which puts requirements on manufacturers to account for the full lifespan of their products, to paper products and packaging materials.
Hawai‘i currently has an Extended Producer Responsibility policy for certain electronic device manufacturers. Said manufacturers must register with the state Department of Health — paying a $5,000 annual fee to do so — and develop a recycling plan for their products.
For example, computer manufacturer Lenovo’s recycling plan allows consumers to freely drop off used products at various “e-cycling” collection businesses around the state. Most of the registered manufacturers in the state use plans similar to this.
Those manufacturers must also meet escalating recycling goals by collecting and recycling a certain amount of their own devices equivalent to a significant percentage of the total weight of their products sold in the state two years prior. As of January, that goal is 70%.
The specific methods of another EPR program for paper products and packaging materials would be determined by the needs assessment, Lowen said. Other states — including California, Maine, Minnesota and more — have established their own EPR programs for packaging recycling, with manufacturers required to pay fees or develop stewardship plans.
“(The EPR) puts responsibility for the full life cycle of waste onto producers,” Lowen explained, saying that establishing incentives or disincentives is often the only way to steer large manufacturers toward greener policies.
According to the City and County of Honolulu’s Refuse Division, O‘ahu alone generates more than 2.2 million tons of waste annually, much of which is recyclable paper or cardboard.
But any EPR program for packaging goods will take a while. The $3 million allocated toward the program — taken from the state’s beverage container deposit fund — needs to be spent by 2029.
In the meantime, garbage continues to accumulate statewide, leading lawmakers to worry about the capacity of Hawai‘i's landfills. The text of the bill itself states that more than 400 tons of ash from Oahu’s H-Power waste-to-energy facility — which has a high concentration of heavy metals — are buried daily in the Waimānalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill, which also generates about 9,800 gallons of toxic leach water every day.
The Honolulu City Council on Wednesday narrowly passed on second reading a proposal to limit the sale of certain single-use plastic bottles, but some council members were concerned it doesn’t do enough.
That proposal would prohibit the sale of single-use bottles containing less than one liter from vending machines at a city facility. Councilwoman Val Okimoto, who represents parts of ‘Aiea, Pearl City and Mililani Town, said this affects fewer than 30 vending machines on the island.
“Measures like this, though seemingly minor, contribute to a growing perception of regulatory overreach that can stifle entrepreneurship and economic growth,” Okimoto said. “If our goal is to meaningfully reduce plastic waste, we should pursue more comprehensive strategies that involve collaboration with businesses, investment in recycling infrastructure, and robust public education campaigns. Targeting a small number of vending machines does little to address the systemic issues at hand.”
Okimoto was one of three council members to vote against the bill, but it ultimately passed second reading. The council must vote again on a third reading of the measure at a future meeting.
The other waste-related bill still alive in the state legislature requires manufacturers of disposable wipes to make their “Do Not Flush” warnings larger.
