A year after debating whether to eliminate a city subsidy aimed at encouraging private companies and nonprofits to recycle, City Council members again appear ready to do away with the incentive.
Lawmakers would use the money — estimated to be in the millions over the long term — toward restoring bus services that were cut over the summer.
The proposal is scheduled to be heard today at the Council’s regular monthly meeting.
Bill 61-12 would eliminate a discount given to companies that recycle materials and dispose of the nonrecyclable residue at the Waimanalo Gulch landfill or the HPOWER?waste-to-energy plant. The discount is applied to the “tipping fees” charged per ton to the company delivering the waste material.
The discount of 80 percent was phased down to 50 percent last fiscal year and down to 35 percent for the current fiscal year, which began July 1. It is set to drop to 20 percent in the next fiscal year.
The city Department of Environmental Service proposed eliminating the decades-old 80 percent discount last year, saying it cost the city about $2 million a year. The Council initially agreed, but ultimately reinstated the discount — over Mayor Peter Carlisle’s veto — at the lower rate.
The new repeal would take effect in January and “could result in a revenue increase of millions of dollars” over the long term,?City Council Chairman Ernie Martin and Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said. They said they were prepared to put savings toward transportation costs, specifically bus service.
At the current rate, the cost of the subsidy to taxpayers is estimated at $875,000. A repeal effective Jan. 1 could save about $437,000 for the fiscal year that ends June 30, according to Martin’s office.
Supporters of the discount say it encourages recycling and has led to efforts ridding streets and roadways of bulkier items such as washing machines and abandoned vehicles that do not go to the landfill. Schnitzer Steel Hawaii Corp., the company that has received the most in discounts under the program, notes the discount is applied equally to all who qualify and that the amount it has received is commensurate with the tonnage it recycles.
