MILILANI — The idea of being charged a $10 fee for a second weekly trash pickup was a concern for at least some Mililani residents who attended a community meeting last night to hear details of the city's pilot curbside recycling project.

The city will begin curbside recycling the week of Oct. 29 in Hawai'i Kai and Mililani. After a two-month transition period, the city will reduce trash pickups in those communities from twice a week to once.

If the City Council approves a proposed fee, Mililani residents will have the option to pay $10 a month to continue the twice-weekly garbage collection. Hawai'i Kai residents won't have that option. City officials have said they want to study the effectiveness of each system.

More than 100 people attended the meeting at Mililani High School last night. While some had general inquiries about the types of items that can be recycled, others also raised concerns ranging from having to pay for a second weekly trash pickup to complying with Mililani Town Association rules regarding garbage and recycling bins.

It was the second of two community meetings on the program; on Monday, city officials made their pitch to Hawai'i Kai residents, the other community chosen for the pilot project.

Wade Souza, a 56-year-old retired police officer, said he wouldn't have a problem with the city reducing the trash pickup to once a week if the trash bins were larger. He said he usually needs the twice-a-week pickups even though he already recycles.

"I don't want to pay (the $10 fee), but if I have to I will," Souza said.

Joann Inouye, a secretary in her 50s, said she already recycles but is concerned about sanitation issues from having only once weekly trash pickups. She also said she doesn't believe the $10 fee is fair.

"When we voted to have a recycling program, we didn't vote with the thought in mind that we were going to lose a pickup," she said.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann said there needs to be an incentive to recycle and that the program is part of the city's goal to reduce waste going in the landfill.

"This program is not designed to make money," he said. "This is an additional cost. There's a processing cost involved when we do recycling."

"It's a question of changing cultural patterns, and it's a question of changing behavior," he said. "We wouldn't propose this program and set it up to fail."

Luanne Lee, a retired federal worker, said she came to the meeting upset about being charged $10 to continue the second weekly trash pickup, but left feeling more supportive of the program.

"I've been trying to recycle my whole life, and I thought, 'Boy, why are they charging us an extra $10?' — but after listening to the mayor, I see that he has a point and I'm willing to try it out," she said, adding that she discovered last night she will be able to recycle more items through the curbside program than she already does.

But Lee, who has seven cats, said she may have to stick to two trash pickups a week and that she was worried that any fee could eventually increase.

Royalle Watanabe, a 37-year-old mother of four, said: "I think it's a great idea. It's just something that you don't want to be forced to do."

Hannemann has said he's serious about expanding the program islandwide. He said city officials will evaluate the program in about six months.

Officials have said households that prove they are recycling and still need an extra garbage bin will receive one for free. But both bins will be emptied once a week, on the same day, unless the household is in Mililani and pays the optional fee for twice-weekly garbage collection.

Households should start receiving their color-coded bins — blue for recyclables and green for yard trimmings — next month, city recycling coordinator Suzanne Jones said.

At Monday's meeting in Hawai'i Kai, residents there did not seem too concerned at no longer getting twice-a-week trash pickup beginning Jan. 7.

The pilot project will serve about 20,000 households, including about 12,000 in Mililani. It will cost up to $1.5 million, while an islandwide program could cost $9 million annually, according to the city.

The city had a similar recycling project in Mililani more than three years ago, but it was halted by a dispute with the United Public Workers union, which represents city garbage workers.

Then-Mayor Jeremy Harris had planned to expand a privatized recycling project islandwide, but the United Public Workers successfully argued it would violate an agreement allowing the city to shift from manual garbage collection to automated collection.

Under Hannemann's plan, UPW members will collect recyclables. The city has yet to hire a company to process and sort mixed recyclables that are collected.

Jones said the previous Mililani recycling project was voluntary.

The city estimates that once the program goes islandwide, the city can collect 80,000 tons of green waste and 40,000 tons of recyclables per year, Jones said.

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CURBSIDE PICKUP BEGINS OCT. 29

Curbside recycling begins Oct. 29 in Mililani and Hawai'i Kai. Recyclables (blue bin) and green waste (green bin) will be collected on alternating weeks, on the second pickup day of the week.

The city will continue twice-weekly trash pickup through Jan. 6. Beginning Jan. 7, trash will be picked up only on the first pickup day of the week. Mililani residents may pay $10 a month to continue twice-weekly trash pickup. Hawai'i Kai residents will not have this option.

For more information, visit:

http://envhonolulu.org /solid_waste/curbside.htm

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.