Though the funds came from the federal government, the recycling demonstration project conducted at the Kauai County Farm Bureau Fair was a pure Kaua‘i thing. While signs were posted offering nickel refunds for plastic bottles and aluminum cans all four
Though the funds came from the federal government, the recycling demonstration project conducted at the Kauai County Farm Bureau Fair was a pure Kaua‘i thing.
While signs were posted offering nickel refunds for plastic bottles and aluminum cans all four days at the fair, it was intrepid trash-diggers who rescued most of the bottles and cans from an otherwise permanent fate at the Kekaha Landfill.
Allison Fraley, the county’s recycling coordinator, and Steve Kaui, of Garden Isle Disposal, concurred that funds for the recycling demonstration project at the fair came from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
They also agreed that E.K. Fernandez folks and the food-booth vendors had in place some 25,000 containers to sell over the fair’s four days, and county and other officials had an ambitious goal of keeping 17,000 of those out of the landfill.
If that was accomplished, it was only because of the dirty work of the Waimea High School JROTC students, who were assigned garbage-removal duty at the fair and thereby had access to dig through said garbage to recover tens of thousands of containers.
Signs posted throughout the fairgrounds at Vidinha Stadium offered five-cent payments for each fair-bought beverage container (all plastics) turned into the recycling booth staffed by clients, paid staff and volunteers with ARC of Kauai (formerly the Association for Retarded Citizens of Kauai) through a partnership with Garden Isle Disposal, where Kaui is a salesman.
In addition, some 3,000 aluminum cans were expected to be emptied by fair workers, Fraley said. It was hoped that 75 percent of the recyclable beverage containers emptied at the fair would indeed be recycled.
At press time, numbers of recycled containers, and refunds paid, were not available. Readers may check out the Westside district page this Thursday, Sept. 2, to see the story and photo on the Waimea High School JROTC students and their sticky weekend work.
The exercise in recycling was to prepare Kauaians and visitors for a time just four months away when the state’s bottle bill goes into effect, Fraley continued.
On Jan. 1, 2005, the cost of each beverage container purchased in the state will reflect the fact that when it’s emptied and returned to a point of purchase, the owner gets a five-cent refund for recycling.
Through efforts of Kauai United Way officials, the word went out that volunteers were needed to work on the recycling project, and groups from schools, Girl Scouts and other entities responded, she said.
More cardboard was recycled at the fair this year than in previous years, she said, as fair officials made the decision to site a cardboard-recycling bin at the stadium all four days of the fair.
Regarding the new state bottle bill, she said as early as November of this year, a five-cent deposit per beverage container will be charged at the point of purchase of glass, aluminum and plastic containers as defined under the bottle bill.
Beverages included under the law are soft drinks, beer, juices, water, teas, and sports drinks. Excluded beverages are wine, milk and hard liquor. A one-cent, non-refundable container fee will also be assessed to support the costs of recycling and program administration.
Beginning in January, patrons get the five-cent deposit back when they recycle a container at a redemption center. Redemption centers will only refund deposits on containers that are labeled as a deposit beverage, empty and clear of liquid or foreign matter, and not crushed.
On Kaua‘i, retailers are not required to operate redemption centers at their stores. Redemption centers will likely be run by private recyclers, and will be located across the island.
By law, retail establishments will be required to post the location of nearby redemption centers when selling deposit containers.
For more information on the bottle bill, please contact the county Recycling Office, 241-6891, or the state Department of Health Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch toll-free at 274-3141, then 6-4226# after the recorded message.
Paul C. Curtis, associate editor, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
