A push to set a deadline for creating an islandwide residential recycling program moved tentatively forward yesterday — but with plenty of wiggle room.

A City Council panel agreed to require that islandwide implementation start by February 2009, but did not specify how far the program would have to advance by then.

The city is still planning to launch recycling pilot projects in Mililani and Hawai'i Kai the week of Oct. 29.

Two companies submitted widely disparate bids for a contract to process and sort the bottles, cans, newspapers and cardboard the city will collect from curbside bins.

Honolulu Recovery Systems bid nearly $2.5 million for the one-year deal, while RRR Recycling Hawaii offered to do the job for $95,000. The bids were opened yesterday, and no additional information was immediately available.

Officials hope to award a contract within weeks, and expect to collect about 4,825 tons of mixed recyclables through the pilot programs.

Bid specifications call for the city to retain any revenue from HI-5¢ beverage containers that are collected and redeemable for 5-cent deposits paid by consumers.

Residents who object to that arrangement can always take their containers to a state-sponsored redemption center and get their deposits back, said city environmental services director Eric Takamura.

Some council members had hoped to lock in a firm deadline for expanding residential recycling islandwide, because previous pilot projects have faltered.

But other officials cautioned that there are still too many questions about how the new effort will work, and how many households will participate.

Councilman Gary Okino said the tentative 2009 deadline, which is awaiting two later votes, could at least pressure officials to expand the program as quickly as reasonably possible.

It may be best to expand in phases into neighborhoods that have similar characteristics, while addressing rural areas separately, he said.

The deadline could be strengthened with more specifics after the pilot projects have been allowed to operate for a few months, he said.

The Mililani project will include an optional $30 quarterly fee for households that wish to continue having their trash collected twice per week in addition to weekly recycling collection.

The council panel agreed to allow the fee to be waived for low-income households that prove they are participating in the recycling program.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.