Now that Honolulu has extended curbside recycling to the Leeward side, every household on the isle should be equipped with three city and county-issued trash bins, in blue, green and gray.
It will take more effort to rinse and sort your opala, but you'll get the hang of it -- and you'll be glad you're doing your part to keep these items out of landfills, which none of us wants in our own back yard.
Although filling the bins would seem to be a matter of using common sense, there are limitations to what can and cannot be put into the respective bins. For instance, some things that are accepted for recycling in other counties are not accepted here. Here's a primer:
» The green bin: Grass clippings, tree and hedge trimmings, leaves, palm fronds and Christmas trees go here. The plant matter is mulched and turned back into potting soil, which goes back to your garden.
Everything in the green bin goes to a composting facility, so none of your mixed recyclables belong here.
Plastic bags also do not belong in here, but county recycling director Suzanne Jones said the city is allowing residents to use it occasionally to keep grass from clumping at the bottom. However, "We ask people to avoid using bags as much as possible."
» The blue bin: This is for mixed recyclables such as aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles (Nos. 1 and 2), newspaper and corrugated cardboard.
Beverage containers do not have to be labeled HI5 to go in the blue bin. The HI5 label means you can get 5 cents back at a redemption center (you might want to do that instead).
Though the directions seem pretty straightforward, you might want to know that corrugated cardboard (the kind that's double-thick, with ridges in between) does not include cereal boxes, tissue boxes or egg cartons.
Some pizza delivery boxes might qualify, but Jones asks that you try to scrape off the cheese first.
White and colored office paper do not go into the blue bin, either. These can be recycled at community bins found at most public schools, where you can also drop off stapled papers but not envelopes, magazines or shredded paper.
» The gray bin: Everything that does not go into green or blue bins goes in the gray bin -- the trash bin. Waste is taken to the HPOWER waste-to-energy facility on Oahu.
This includes phone books, tin cans and egg cartons.
Whatever your views about HPOWER, Jones says the county has determined it's more efficient to burn egg cartons into energy rather than to ship them offshore for recycling.
» Sorting it out: To figure out which plastics go in the blue bin, look for the number inside a triangle typically placed on the bottom of the object. Nos. 1 and 2 are acceptable. These usually include plastic food containers that hold cold foods, like the strawberries from Costco. The same goes for shampoo and liquid soap bottles.
Bottle caps do not go into the blue bin. Nor do yogurt cups, which are usually plastic No. 5.
Where does it all go? Most of Honolulu's paper and plastic gets shipped to various markets in the Pacific -- mainly China -- to be re-purposed into other materials. Glass goes to the West Coast.
Glass is recycled into new bottles or "glasphalt" road pavement, while aluminum can easily be melted down. Plastic is re-purposed into lumber, carpet and textiles, while newspapers and cardboard get a new life as new newsprint, boxes and tissue paper.
If you accidentally put something in the blue bin that does not belong, don't fret: A team sorts through all the stuff as it travels along a conveyor belt. For a peek, go to www.opala.org.
For questions on curbside recycling, call 768-3200 or visit www.opala.org/solid_waste/curbside.htm.
Nina Wu writes a column about environmental issues on the first Monday of every month. E-mail her at nwu@starbulletin.com.
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[6/7/10] If you're really determined to recycle magazines (and phone books and paperback books), you can drop them off at Hagadone.
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