Hawaii eyes higher fee for larger glass items

Hawaii – Officials in Hawaii are advocating an adjusted fee for glass recyclables based on size to ensure containers ‘cover their own disposal costs’ and material is kept out of landfills. The proposal requires importers to pay the fee in advance, though some in the industry have raised concerns that the extra expense will hit residents at the supermarket check-out.

‘The problem is larger glass bottles are not being recycled or recyclers are no longer willing to accept them because they are too expensive to send back to the mainland or other areas for recycling,’ says Robert Harris of the Sierra Club environmental organisation. The revised fee would help the counties’ recycling programmes, he adds. 

Hawaiian residents receive 5 cents for handing in small bottles compared to only a penny a pound for heavier glass containers. According to glass recyclers on the island, there is not much incentive to process the bulky material locally because the pay-off is the same for small, easily-transported glass items such as beer bottles and baby food jars.

Source: KITV News