The cost of the state’s bottle bill is being felt by Hawai’i consumers already, even though the deposit provision of the law won’t kick in until 2005. Representatives of Coca-Cola and other beverage-producing or importing companies have been paying the
The cost of the state’s bottle bill is being felt by Hawai’i consumers already, even though the deposit provision of the law won’t kick in until 2005.
Representatives of Coca-Cola and other beverage-producing or importing companies have been paying the state a half a penny per container either manufactured here or imported into the state since October 2002, as a handling fee to fund the state’s bottle law, said Dan Whitford, Hawai’i area general manager for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Hawai’i.
And in most cases, distributors pass on that additional cost to wholesalers.
“As a distributor on the island, I can’t afford to absorb that half a cent. So we pass it on to our customers and, ultimately, I think a lot of them pass it on to their consumers,” Whitford said. “So, it’s costing people” now, he said.
The fee will cost Coke in Hawai’i $750,000 before October this year, then $1 million for the 12 months following, he said.
“Every month we write a check to the state, on the half a cent, and I can tell you that that beverage fee is being passed onto the customer and, ultimately, the consumer,” said Whitford.
The handling fee moves to one cent per container in October of this year, then two cents in January 2005.
Setting up the accounting system to keep track of the fees, state requirements mandating monthly reporting, and other provisions of the law are adding to producers’ and importers’ costs, he said.
“We still believe that going to a comprehensive recycling program is more cost-effective and more prudent for the state versus targeting one industry and one commodity,” Whitford said.
While savvy consumers may have noticed subtle changes in soda and beer prices at local stores, many probably don’t even realize that a portion of the state’s controversial bottle-deposit law is already in effect.
Funds collected since October of last year are being stored away by state officials for when deposit and redemption provisions of the law go into effect in 2005, said state Rep. Mina Morita, D-north and east Kaua’i.
Beginning in October of 2002, state officials began collecting the handling fee on each of the 800 million beverage containers imported into the state each year.
The $8 million in fees generated each year goes into a special fund to allow the state to begin paying refunds of five cents per can or bottle once the program begins in 2005, and for administration of the program, Morita explained.
Here and across the country, where bottle-bill legislation has gone into effect, beverage prices haven’t risen, she said.
“We haven’t seen any cost go up yet. And the case throughout the country is, it’s never increased cost,” said Morita.
The state’s bottle law could have started earlier, but no funds were appropriated for start-up costs when the bill was approved last year.
“No monies were appropriated to start the program. In the meantime, we’re ironing out the issues, the rule-making,” and determining where to locate redemption centers, and how they will operate, said Morita, a Hanalei resident.
The bottle bill, passed by the 2002 Legislature, remains in place, in spite of efforts by powerful people including Gov. Linda Lingle to repeal the legislation, Morita said.
“The governor did want it repealed, but, hey, we just passed the law, you know?” she said. “So it wasn’t even up for discussion,” said Morita, chair of the House Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection.
“She can’t repeal without the Legislature.”
Where redemption centers are concerned, they may take different forms on different islands. On Maui, county government officials will handle redemption matters, as part of that county’s recycling effort, she said.
On Kaua’i, there are “enough private-sector people interested in doing it,” so it appears that stores and other private-sector entities will set up redemption systems, Morita added.
With technologically advanced equipment, known as reverse-vending machines, stores like Kmart are ready to roll out machines that will accept cans and bottles, then issue vouchers good at the stores equivalent to redemption amounts.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
