HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0482.120 2024-2026From:
Sarah
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Sent:
Tuesday, October 7, 2025 10:56 AM
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To:
Council Testimony
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Subject:
Bill 83 - Testimony in Strong Support
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Aloha Chair Villegas, Vice Chair Kagiwada, and Councilmembers,
I'm submitting testimony in strong support of Bill 83 with one critical amendment on the`definition of
"reusable."
We've already done this successfully: Hawai'i County banned single -use expanded polystyrene
foam in 2018, and our business community adapted. Bill 83 is the necessary next step to reduce
waste, litter, and oil -dependent packaging.
Let's be direct about "recyclable." Most plastic foodware labeled "recyclable" here does not get
recycled in practice. Food -soiled plastics and mixed resins rarely move through a real recycling
stream. Pretending that a recycling logo equals recycling is how we get stuck. Recycling is not the
solution for single -use foodware in Hawaii —source reduction, true reuse, and compostables
are.
Adopt a real definition of "reusable." Please amend Bill 83 so "reusable" means participation in
an actual reuse system: items designed for multiple rotations, with collection, commercial
washing, and redistribution. Explicitly exclude thicker single -use plastic bags/containers that are
merely labeled "reusable" without a take -backwash loop. Other jurisdictions learned this the hard
way; let's avoid the thicker -plastic backfire from day one.
Compostables are better even before disposal. Even if a compostable item currently ends up in
the same landfill as plastic, its production footprint is far more sustainable, using agricultural
byproducts instead of drilled oil and far less water and energy than virgin plastic resins. Choosing
compostables cuts fossil inputs immediately and reduces toxics and microplastics risks.
This bill builds the case for on -island commercial composting. A clear county standard. that
prioritizes certified compostables creates the feedstock needed to finance and build a commercial
composting facility - the next ideal infrastructure step for our island. Policy first, infrastructure
second; that's how real systems get built.
Mahalo nui loa for your leadership and for choosing solutions that actually work in Hawai'i.
Sarah Warr
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