Honolulu's plans to launch a residential curbside recycling project and start shipping some other trash to a Mainland dump will be delayed because key details have not been worked out.

The long-promised recycling plan — tentatively scheduled to begin in September — likely will be on hold until at least mid-October, but it remains unclear where it will be launched, officials told a City Council panel yesterday.

"The starting date slipped about a month," environmental services director Eric Takamura said.

And the city won't be ready to seek bids for the trash shipping plan by September, as indicated earlier. But officials remain hopeful that shipments can begin sometime next year.

Hawai'i Kai, Kailua and Mililani are being considered for the recycling program, which would include curbside collection of waste paper, yard clippings and other recyclables.

The program would be launched in two of those neighborhoods, then be expanded islandwide later, if successful.

Takamura said locations for the first phase will depend partly on which city base yards have the necessary staffing and equipment available. Those issues are still being studied, but a decision should be announced in September, he said.

Officials plan to submit a bill to the council next month that would create a $10 monthly fee for homes that want to continue having trash picked up twice per week in addition to the recycling pickup. Passing a bill normally takes three months.

Takamura said officials have yet to hire a consultant to examine potential health and safety problems from limiting trash pickups to once per week.

Council chairwoman Barbara Marshall said she found that "a little startling" since the program is expected to begin soon.

The delay in the trash-shipping plan stems from concerns over how the city will solicit bids for the work, environmental services assistant Martin Okabe said.

At least three Mainland firms have been working to set up trash-shipping operations, and officials expect bidding to be highly competitive.

The city expects to ship some trash away for at least five years, while a new waste-to-energy facility is constructed.

But a bid request package that was drafted in mid-July for the shipping plan raised "major" concerns with city attorneys and finance officials, Okabe said.

They advised a two-step process, in which bidders submit their qualifications before naming prices, he said. The bidding documents are now being revised.

The city hopes that recycling more, and shipping some trash away, will stretch the life of the city's Waimanalo Gulch landfill, which is nearing its permitted capacity and is scheduled to close in less than one year.

The city plans to seek state permission to keep the site open for two more years while completing an environmental study to support a later request to expand its capacity and operate it for at least 15 more years.

Councilman Gary Okino said he hoped the landfill could remain open.

"Otherwise, we're going to be picking a site for another landfill, and I don't think that's what anyone wants," he said.

Okabe said the city has no contingency plan in case the state orders the landfill closed.

"Right now, we're putting our eggs in the permit extension basket," he said.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.