Oahu appointments-only bulky item pickup begins islandwide July 1
STAR-ADVERTISER / 2017
Bulky trash items along Hiapo St. and Waipahu St. in Waipahu awaited pickup by the city.
The city’s appointment-based bulky item pickup system will go islandwide starting July 1, the Department of Environmental Services announced today.
The metropolitan Honolulu region from Foster Village to Hawaii Kai first made the switch under a pilot program that began last June. The city announced in January that that program was being extended indefinitely.
Today’s announcement makes the policy Oahu-wide, bringing to an end the decades-long system where haulers cruise neighborhoods on designated days each month in search of bulky items.
To schedule appointments for July and and beyond, go to www.opala.org. Customers without online access can call Environmental Services from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays at 768-3200, option 0.
All multi-unit buildings will initially be placed in a “default” category that allows each individual unit on a multi-unit property to make an appointment personally for a pickup of up to five bulky items or two metal appliances.
But under an “alternative” option, a property or resident manager may choose to manage and schedule an appointment for an entire building, in which there would be a limit of up to 20 bulky items or eight metal appliances per appointment.
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All appointments must be made separately for bulky items and metal appliances.
When a bulky pickup appointment is scheduled, items should be placed curbside no earlier than 6 p.m. the night before the collection.
Critics said the old system was resulting in trash pile-ups around the island.
But the appointment system also drew criticism, largely from apartment and condominium dwellers who were bothered that it required property owners, resident managers or apartment-condominium associations to make reservations and limited the number of items that could be picked up from multi-unit addresses. That prompted the city in August to allow multi-family residential dwellers themselves to call. Others complained that the new system still left trash sitting on sidewalks.
“We made tweaks during the original pilot and now have a solid foundation to successfully expand,” ENV Director Lori Kahikina said in a release. “We believe the adjustments made allow residents more flexibility.”
