Maui County’s recycling programs have changed, according to a recent announcement from the Environmental Protection and Sustainability Division of the Maui County Department of Environmental Management.
Since Jan. 1, residents have no longer been able to recycle office paper, junk mail, magazines and phone books at the four County redemption centers (Kihei, Makawao, Haiku and Kahului; nor at Aloha Recycling).
The changes are reflective of new policies in China, which takes in most of the plastics, paper and cardboard from Hawaii (and the mainland U.S.). China’s new policies set limits on the imports of certain types of plastics, paper and other recyclables and are intended to limit contamination, to improve the quality of the materials received and to ultimately protect their environment. The policies will impact the exports of recyclable materials around the world.
In other changes, Maui EKO Systems, Inc., along with the support of the Central Maui Landfill, will monitor “commercial” green-waste to ensure the haulers are properly weighed at the landfill scale house and charged applicable fees.
Maui EKO is currently monitoring incoming vehicles to determine if the customer is residential or commercial. A vehicle is determined to be commercial using the following criteria: vehicle has commercial license plates, advertising or signage, or the hauler is determined to be commercial by frequency of use and/or the type of materials they bring in; the criteria is part of Maui EKO’s contract with the County.
In a statement, EKO said it will monitor facility users, and suspected “commercial” users will be investigated. Investigation will include a review of the data collected including license plates, materials delivered, frequency of visits and inspection of the source address to determine if that vehicle is a commercial vehicle.
Users determined to be “commercial” will have to set up an account and weigh all incoming loads at the scale house. Maui EKO may deny entry to any customer not following the rules.
Also since Jan. 1, the Kahului Airgas Store stopped accepting used propane tanks for recycling. The County is researching local alternatives for propane tank recycling. Hammerhead Metals still accepts propane tanks with valves removed for recycling; contact them for fees and policies at 808-280-8844.
Propane tanks are also accepted for recycling as part of the County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events that occurs each year, though it’s unknown when the next HHW Collection event will take place.
For more information about recycling, go to Mauicounty.gov/recycle or call the Maui County Recycling Hotline at 808-270-7880.
Photo: Dvortygirl/Wikimedia Commons
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