HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0626.006 2010-2012 April 2, 2012
Dear Members of the Council and Guests, )
My name is Roy Kadota. My family owns Mr. K's Recycle & Redemption Center, Inc. Our&ew
company has been in business for about three years now, so it is relatively new. We hav&pne
location and we are quite busy, however we are a small company in a large industry. Although
we are new and small, it is in my best interest to keep as much waste out of the mainstream
landfill as possible. Because we are all working toward the same goal which is to divert thi solid:
waste from landfills, I would like to express my concerns about the diversion funding. �,�
About nine months ago, when no one was taking e-waste and somebody had to do it, I took on
the task of accepting it with the reassurance that the county would not get involved. They said
they would not have any funding and for me to take on this task and to charge a fee if I needed
to. The reason for that is there is not much return on e-waste. Therefore, I was charging
customers 40 cents per pound for televisions and computer monitors to offset the shipping
costs and labor. Three months later, the county started free collections at the transfer stations.
Therefore, I had to stop charging and take in all materials free of charge because we had irate
and disgruntled customers complaining about the fees. I felt mislead.
From the start of our business, we have always accepted non HI-5 materials including non HI-5
glass, plastic, styrofoam, paper, cardboard, and more. Some companies do not accept
styrofoam and non HI-5 glass. About two months ago, we started paying customers 5 cents per
pound for#1 and #2 non HI-5 plastic. The state regulations say that we are not allowed to
redeem bottles without labels. To keep customers from getting discouraged about the HI-5
program and to encourage them to recycle more, we implemented these 5 cents per pound
which is coming from my pocket. I feel that the county is doing me an injustice again with this
pilot program.
According to the DOH personnel, diversion funding cannot move forward because of the
discrepancy of the two bin drop-off and program. My concerns are as follows:
1) I am all for the program that Dominic Yagong is entering, but I feel that it is unfair for the
private sectors to not be funded also. I know it is only a six month program, but in that six
months I'm afraid I will be losing a lot of business. If this program can include me as a small
individual, I am all for it. I am already taking in all these non HI-5 commodities. The County
needs to put the funding where the funding is needed and pay the recycler, so the recycler can
pay the customer. By paying the recycler, these companies will be able to take in materials that
people are not recycling.
2) Diversion funding should be used for non HI-5 glass, styrofoam, and e-waste because these
materials aren't getting the prices to be shipped. For example, the private sectors in Honolulu
are paying customers about 4 cents per pound for non HI-5 glass. If the glass is not getting
processed in Hawaii, it must be shipped out. Each of our glass containers with HI-5 and non HI-5
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glass, weighs about 45,000 lbs. and costs about $2,600 just for the container alone not
including trucking and labor. Our end-user pays us approximately $280 per glass container. The
state program takes care of the HI-5 glass but what about the non HI-5 glass? If it is
unaffordable to ship out the glass, then why not find another use for it. For instance, instead of
using gravel use the crushed glass to cover the landfill or do some experimenting, which I think
they did, to use it in concrete or asphalt as filler for landscaping. If it is feasible, why not do
that instead of shipping out the glass.
3) Although my company is new and small, I am always looking for different ways to expand
and different ideas to promote recycling. We are in the process of starting a program in unison
with Recycle Hawaii and Sustainable Products where we would be able to turn table scraps and
paper products into fertilizer and animal feed. This project would cost about $15,000 and if it
works we would be able to recycle the end product. It would be a big help if we could get some
funding for this project also.
In conclusion, I am all for the proposal of this pilot program if the funding is available. I have
been trying to get diversion funding for three years now. As I mentioned earlier, we are a new
and small company and we need help. "Subsidize where the subsidy is needed." The main
emphasis in my conclusion is that I would like some diversion fund diverted to e-waste or if I
recall there was some money allotted from the manufacturers to sponsor the e-waste program.
If I may ask, what happened to that funding? I ask that the county be fair and smart about
where they use the funding to keep these materials out of the landfill and to help reach our
goal of diverting the solid waste from the landfill. If there are any questions, please feel free to
call me at (808) 895-4471.
Yours truly,
Roy Kadota