Hawaii Bottle Bill

• Increase Recycling -- There is an estimated 900 million beverage containers sold in Hawaii annually. Our current redemption rate is approximately 70% up from an initial rate of 20% . Other States around the Country with similar deposit systems achieve 80% recovery on average, which is greater than curbside systems (50%) and far greater than voluntary drop-off (20%). Hawaii State law established a goal to recycle 50% of the waste stream by 2000; the HI5 program is a big component of this goal.
• Reduce Litter -- Approximately 75,000 beverage containers are thrown into the trash or littered every hour in the State.

The deposit is refunded when you take your empty beverage containers to a redemption center to be recycled.

Redemption centers will only refund a deposit on containers that are:

• Whole and unbroken
• Labeled with the "Hawaii 5 cent" or "HI5"
• Empty and clean. No liquid or foreign matter allowed.

The following describes what kinds of containers are redeemable:

• Beverage - All nonalcoholic drinks (soda, water, juice, tea, coffee), except for milk and dairy products. Some alcoholic beverages such as beer, malt beverages, mixed spirits (less than 15% alcohol volume), and mixed wine (less than 7% alcohol volume). Wine bottles or hard liquor bottles are not accepted under the Law.
• Container material - Aluminum, bi-metal (juice containers), glass, and plastic. Note: Only plastics #1 and #2 are covered under the Law. Look for the triangle and number symbol on the plastic container.
• Container size - 68 fluid ounces or less. Note: Gallon size containers are not covered under the Law.

Because the Law required the labeling of containers as of November 1, 2004, retailers must label every applicable container they sell; however, some retailers may have not labeled a few containers. Please check containers before purchasing to ensure they are labeled correctly.

If you have already purchased containers and they do not have a label, you may take them back to the store and request they give you deposit stickers so that you may redeem your containers at the redemption centers. You may also request that they please make sure all containers they are selling under the Law are properly labeled.

If the container was previously labeled and the label has come loose, the label can be put inside the container (i.e. plastic bottle labels) to be redeemed.

There is no maximum; however, it is recommended that individuals manage their loads so that they are smaller, possibly in the range of 300-400 containers. This may mean an increase in frequency that one drops off their materials; however, it will keep the lines moving at a steady pace.

Under the current Law there is a 1 cent non-refundable fee that pays for program administration, promotion, and pays recyclers to process and recycle the containers. For example: a 6 pack of beverages will have an additional 36 cents added to cover the deposit and fee. You can get up to 30 cents back when you turn in your containers at a redemption center. Note: As of September 1, 2015 the handling fee was reduced from 1.5 cents. Stores should only be charging a maximum of 6 cents per beverage. Stores have the option of absorbing the 1 cent handling fee.

No. Consumers may request for the redemption center operator to hand count the containers if the total number of containers is 200 or less. They may also choose to have the containers weighed. For loads over 200 containers, the operator has the choice to either weigh or hand count the materials. Redemption center operators WILL NOT accept customer counts. Redemption rates per pound are issued by the State Department of Health and is calculated by taking an average on all containers of each material type.

The weight refund is close to the same dollar amount as the hand counted refund. The State of Hawaii has based their weight calculations on the average weight of all sizes of containers. The number of containers per pound calculations are based on the following per material:

• Plastic – 18.8 containers per pound = .94 ¢ / lb.
• Small Plastic (17 oz. and less) – 26.3 containers per pound = $ 1.315 / lb.
• Aluminum – 32 containers per pound = 1.60 / lb.
• Glass – 2.4 containers per pound = 12¢ / lb.
• Bi-metal – 5.9 containers per pound = .295 ¢ / lb.

Note: If you have more questions, please call 241-4337.

All redemption centers accept commercial loads, except:

• Kauai Community Recycling Service Koloa location

No. The HI-5 bottle bill requires that all beverage containers being redeemed be free of liquid, trash, and food.

No redemption centers on Kauai accept caps.