HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i State Department of Health announced the deposit beverage container annual redemption rate (calculated from July 1, 2008, to June 30, 2009) is 79 percent, which compared with 72 percent from the previous year.

Karl Motoyama, of the DOH Office of Solid Waste Management, said, “While beverage sales are down this year over last, it appears more people are recycling beverage containers for deposit refunds.”
Motoyama said he believes that the increase in the redemption rate may be a result of the weak economy. Reported beverage sales are down compared with the prior year.
Participation in the HI-5 Recycling Program is strong, with more than 705 million containers recycled last fiscal year compared with 680 million containers last year, helping to significantly reduce litter and conserve resources.
State law requires that the program determine the annual redemption rate by the first of August each year. The redemption rate is a measure of participation in the recycling program and is used to determine the container fee amount. If the redemption rate exceeds 70 percent, state law requires the container fee to increase from 1 cent to 1.5 cents per container, unless the director of health, in consultation with the state auditor, determines that a fee increase is not needed. The department and auditor must assess whether the redemption rate will deplete the special fund balance to the extent that a fee increase is needed to cover additional program costs.



After consideration of the fiscal year 2009 redemption rate of 79 percent, evaluation of the current deposit beverage special fund balance, and consultation with the state auditor, the Hawai‘i health director has determined that the container fee will remain at one cent per container. This means that the deposit plus container fee will continue at six cents — a five-cent deposit to be returned to the consumer when the container is recycled and a nonrefundable one-cent container fee for administrative costs.



For more information on the state’s deposit beverage container program visit www.hi5deposit.com.