Public Comments and Responses to the IRSWMP (Appendix I) - 2009

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Response: Please see the first paragraph of the response to comment 20 above. 33. Michael L. Last, 10/13/09 The comments below address solid waste reduction. They are those of the author, who is acting as an individual resident and not representing anyone else. He is not affiliated in any way with any waste collection firm, recycler, or environmental organization. His sole purpose is to have a logical and sound system of solid waste reduction that is applied to all parties in an equitable manner. As an example, a jug that contains milk is just as detrimental (when disposed of in a landfill) as one that is sold with flavored water inside. A. Eliminate the one cent (1 cent) fee imposed on the purchase of recyclable bottles and cans. Upon redemption, the amount returned is only 83.3% of that which was remitted (one cent fee and the five cent (5 cent) deposit). I am unaware of any other state or local government that mandates less than 100% be refunded upon return of a recyclable item. Prior to the deposit bill being introduced, I would collect aluminum cans and transport them to a recycling vendor. There the money I received was in payment for my efforts to collect, store and transport the cans. Now, for this same effort, what is my payment? The return of the money I gave in the first place ... but only five cents returned for every six I paid!! I now refuse to purchase any item that is subject to a fee. (I can accept the deposit.) I will however purchase any item in a plastic or glass container, as long as I don't pay anything extra for the fee or deposit, and when I'm done, I'll be sure and have it end up in the landfill. B. Impose the same deposit amount on any and all bottles and cans ( "vessel ") REGARDLESS of the contents! A plastic vessel filled with a carbonated drink is subject to the deposit (and fee), yet this same vessel which contains milk is NOT subject to any additional payment. To use the argument that milk is a necessity for life, and thus not subject to the additional charges, is not valid. Water is a life sustaining liquid -not milk, but the State of Hawaii elects to impose the fee and deposit on this vital nutritional source. Any and all containers (of the same composition) should be subject to recycling without regard to what is initially held- and with the equivalent amount of deposit. Impose a fully (100 %) refundable deposit on each motor vehicle registered in the County of Hawaii. Currently there is no deposit associated with the initial registration of a motor vehicle; therefore when a vehicle no longer becomes operational sometimes it ends up abandoned on the public right -of -way. However, the fee to remove these vehicles is borne by each and every person who registers their cars and trucks. Collected along with the State and County weight tax, the State fee, and beautification fee, is the County fee. Incorporated in the County fee is $12.00 designated for abandon vehicle disposal. Therefore, each year everyone pays $12 per registered vehicle to have the car or truck removed from the street or highway. It doesn't matter that you don't abandon vehicles; you pay the $12 each and every year regardless! If there was a refundable deposit (in lieu of the'abandon vehicle disposal fee') collected upon initial registration, and the ENTIRE amount was refunded only when one of three conditions were satisfied, we'd see a lot less 'junk cars' around the island. The three ways to get your deposit back: 1. Verify that the vehicle was sold - submit notice of transfer; 2. Verify that it was taken to a recycler- obtain a receipt; 3. Verify that it was taken out of state - supply shipping documents. Period! Then there would be an incentive for correctly disposing of a vehicle. Also, if there was a bounty ( "deposit ") on each vehicle, and PUBLIC COMMENTS AND RESPONSES APPENDIX IDOC 19