February 20, 2008
State Senate Passes Bill to Mandate On-Site Recycling Redemption Centers at Hawaii's Big Box Retailers
By Richard Rapoza
Editor's note: The Senate's four Republicans, including Sens. Fred Hemmings, Gordon Trimble, Sam Slom and Paul Whalen, voted against this bill today, while all Democrats, except two who were absent, voted in support. Sen. Lorraine Inouye, D-Hilo, voted yes but with reservations.
HONOLULU, HI - The Hawaii State Senate today passed Senate Bill 2841, which will require retailers with more than 75,000 square feet of retail space to operate on-site redemption centers for deposit beverage containers. The new provisions are aimed at "big box" retailers such as Wal-Mart, Costco, and Sam’s Club.
Sen. Ron Menor, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and the Environment and one of the bill’s sponsors, said that the bill will bring further improvements to the state’s deposit beverage container program, popularly known as the "bottle bill."
"While the existing program has shown success, we still have over a quarter of a billion recyclable and redeemable containers entering our waste stream every year," said Menor.
"This measure is pro-consumer and pro-environment," Menor continued. "We are encouraging these retailers, who introduce a tremendous number of beverage containers into our community, to demonstrate good corporate citizenship by making redemption easier and more convenient for consumers. Given the potential impact on our community, I do not think this is too much to ask. Rather, I think it is the least they could do."
Having passed the Senate, the bill will now cross to the House of Representatives for consideration. As part of the Joint Majority Package of legislation introduced by the House and Senate at the start of this session, the measure is considered a good candidate to pass the second chamber.
Richard Rapoza is the director of communications for the Hawaii State Senate majority party.
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/story.aspx?9233a74a-510b-43e5-9063-1e51d7634c45
