Ask The Mayor: What Is the County Doing With Recycling Bins?

The mayor answers questions from the public in this series.

By Mayor Alan Arakawa

Q: I’m sad to see the 3-Can Plan going away in my neighborhood. What does the county plan to do with the green waste and recycling containers?

 If they are going to trash them, can citizens keep these to use on their own? It would make hauling my recycling and green waste to the recycling center much easier down the road. Thank you.

A: The bins will not get tossed; they will be collected and stored. The Department of Environmental Management plans to purchase new brown covers for the bins, and to use them as replacement bins for automated refuse pickups. Since a new bin costs $70 to $80 each and a new cover costs just $19, it is much more cost-effective to reuse the bins and just replace the cover.

As a side note, these 96-gallon bins are heavy duty—and very heavy! They weigh more than any retail bins available locally, so when you factor in the weight of the recyclables, the full bins can weigh about 100 pounds.

Want to Ask the Mayor?

Submit your questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa via email at [email protected], by phone at 270-7855 or by mail to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the Ask the Mayor column.