Recycling Plan Good for Honolulu and the Environment
After a successful pilot program, Honolulu has decided to ramp up recycling by adding curbside service to 39,000 more residences come November and adding communities incrementally until 160,000 homes have collections in 2010.
The initial price tag on bins for the curbside recycling program’s start-up will be $23.4 million, but in the long run, taxpayers and the environment will benefit from islandwide recycling and the city’s trash dump will not fill up as fast.
Operating costs will drop because green waste, which is now collected separately, will be part of the usual pick-ups and also remove the need to transfer materials to different locations.
The city’s curbside recycling program could lower annual operating costs for refuse collection by almost $200,000.
