white bins being taken away

Consumers will no longer be able to drop off their recyclable items at those familiar white bins in school or shopping center parking lots after June 30, the city announced today.

Signs notifying the public about the end of the community recycling program on Oahu will begin appearing on the bins this weekend by the city Department of Environmental Services.

Some drop-off bins may be taken away as early as June 15, the city said.

Ending the program is expected to save the city about $1.5 million annually.

The city said it is continuing to expand its curbside and condominium recycling efforts.

Meanwhile, Rolloffs Hawaii, which provides trash service to most of Oahu's public schools, intends to launch its own program at schools while Honolulu Disposal Service, which once held the city contract for the bins, expects to maintain the recycling bins at about 50 of the locations.

The community recycling program first began with 20 bins in 1990.

The city is discontinuing the program as more Oahu households turn to curbside recycling.

The city estimated about 70 percent of items that once went into the white bins are now going into curbside blue bins. A recent survey also showed 97 percent of households are now recycling at some level, with more than two-thirds placing 75 to 100 percent of their recyclables into blue carts, the city said.

About 160,000 Oahu homes are part of the curbside recycling program, and the city is intending to being expanding to the remaining 20,000 households this year.

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Well, if they take away Lanakila's bin, I guess I'll recycle via the blue bin.