Department of Health: Segregated rate revision to change how redemption centers pay for recycled bottles and cans

Hawaiʻi’s Deposit Beverage Container Program will change how redemption centers convert container weight into container counts starting Oct. 1, the state Department of Health announced.

The department is revising what it calls segregated rates, which redemption centers use when they pay out on containers by weight rather than by count. The rates reflect the average number of containers per pound for each material type: aluminum, bi-metal, glass and plastic. The department said it updates the rates periodically because beverage container sizes and weights change over time.

Starting Oct. 1, all certified redemption centers, including those on Maui, must use the new rates when redeeming containers by weight.

The biggest change involves plastic. The department is replacing its two current plastic rates, one for mixed containers up to 17 fluid ounces and one for containers up to 68 fluid ounces, with a single rate. That rate is based on the average weight of a load of mixed-size plastic containers.

Under the revised rates, according to a DOH table, the number of containers per pound will change as follows:

The department said the changes are based on a study by Cascadia Consulting Group. Researchers counted and weighed by hand a random sample of more than 145,000 HI-5 containers at certified redemption centers statewide.

Consumers who prefer not to have their containers weighed can ask the redemption center operator to count them. According to the department, operators must count loads of up to 200 containers when asked. People with larger loads can ask whether the operator is willing to count them during a slower time of day. Operators may count loads of more than 200 containers at their discretion.

Click here for an informational handout.