Bottle Redemption Fees to rise

I was horrified to read in the Advertiser today that the redemption rate for our bottles and cans will be going up from 6 cents/bottle to 6.5 cents/bottle.

This was horrifying for two reason: 1) Since when have the HI-5c redemption fees been 6 cents?! And 2) they're going to raise it even more!

Brian had to calm the pake in me down and remind me that the fact that Hawaii is recycling over 70% of its bottles is good thing. It's better that things are being recycled than ending up in a landfill. True, true. But is the state going to be forced to continue raising its redemption rate to 9 cent/bottle?!

If I'm upset about the rate increase, chances are those who were anti-the-bottle-bill-in-the-first-place are far more upset than me. It'll be interesting to see where these increases take the state in terms of its recycling habits. At 7 cents/bottle or, god forbid, 9 cents/bottle, and the economy continuing its decline, redemption rates could very well close in on 100%. Which would be great! If it weren't for the fact that it costs so damn much to live in Hawaii.

I understand there are significant costs incurred to recycle. But I wonder if there's any way that the state could streamline the program to make the redemption program cheaper and more efficient.

At this time, Oahu does not have its own recycling plant. Perhaps it would make sense to build one here. Or perhaps we could start by utilizing the recycling plant already in operation on the Big Island? Surely the raw materials could be used by some local businesses. This would make more sense than sending our once-used bottles 5,000 miles to China.