Mandatory Recycling

Who's Affected?
Recycling Ordinances
Implementation and Enforcement

Recycling of targeted materials is required by law for most businesses and government agencies. The City encourages recycling of as many materials as you can, but requires that certain materials be recycled or composted and thereby diverted from City disposal sites.

The commercial sector has the greatest potential to significantly increase recycling on Oahu. Businesses that generate large volumes of recyclable materials may also have an opportunity to reduce waste disposal costs when recycling is integrated into their waste management system.

Who’s Affected?

Commercial Entities

Restaurants, bars, hotels, office buildings, shopping centers, retail stores, grocery stores, hospitals, food courts, food manufacturers and processors, golf courses, parks, tree trimmers, auto shops, appliance dealers.

Almost every large business on Oahu is affected, either directly or indirectly, by the City’s recycling requirement. Some of the requirements specifically identify the types of businesses that are required to set up recycling systems for targeted materials. Bars and restaurants are required to recycle glass containers; office buildings (including government offices) are required to recycle paper; and businesses that generate large amounts of food waste, including hotels, restaurants, manufacturers and hospitals, are required to recycle that waste.

Other business are affected indirectly by the bans and restrictions of materials at City disposal sites. Although refuse haulers are responsible for recycling/disposal compliance, the businesses that generate the waste need to insure that their refuse is within allowable disposal limits. Large generators of cardboard, including retail operations, shopping centers, grocery stores and hospitals, are affected by the restriction on cardboard; and large generators of green waste, including golf courses, hotels, condominiums and parks, are affected by the restriction on green waste.

Recycling Ordinances

Below is a summary of the City's recycling related ordinances. To access the actual language of the City Ordinances, click here to go to recycling laws in Chapter 9, Collection and Disposal of Refuse. Click here to go to the purchasing laws in Chapter 1.

Green waste (yard trimmings) from commercial and government generators is RESTRICTED/BANNED from disposal. Commercial and government trucks are limited to a maximum of 10% green waste per load at H-POWER and transfer stations, and completely banned from disposal at the landfill. Local composting facilities accept this material for a fee and process it into soil amendment products. Generators are also encouraged to consider small-scale, do-it-yourself mulching and composting. (Restrictions began in 1994; ban effective January 2003) (See City Ordinance, Chapter 9 - 1.7)

Electronic waste is BANNED from disposal, effective July 2006. Commercial and government ewaste must be processed through ewaste recycling companies. State law requiring manufacturer take-back became effective January 2010. (City Ordinance, Chapter 9-1.7)

Cardboard from commercial and government generators is RESTRICTED from disposal. Commercial and government trucks are limited to a maximum of 10% cardboard per load. Local paper recyclers pay for cardboard. (Restrictions began in 1994) (See City Ordinance, Chapter 9 - 1.7)

Tires, auto batteries, white goods and scrap metals are BANNED from all City disposal sites, effective 1994. State law requires dealers to take your old tires and recycle them. City-collected residential tires are delivered to a recycler.(See City Ordinance, Chapter 9 - 1.7)

Bars and restaurants serving alcoholic beverages are required to recycle glass containers, effective July 1, 1996. (See City Ordinance, Chapter 9 - 3.5)

Office buildings with 20,000 square feet or more of office space are required to recycle office paper, newspaper and cardboard, effective July 1, 1996. (See City Ordinance, Chapter 9 - 3.1)

Hotels, restaurants, grocery stores, food courts, food manufacturers/processors and hospitals meeting specific size criteria defined by ordinance are required to recycle food waste, effective January 1, 1997. (See City Ordinance, Chapter 9 - 3.5)

City agencies are required to recycle newspaper, cardboard, office paper, aluminum, glass, and plastics through government mandatory recycling program established in 1990 for all City agencies. (See City Ordinance, Chapter 9 - 1.11)

The City is required to purchase recycled paper products to support the recycled paper market. Everything from toilet tissue and paper towels to copier and computer paper is purchased with recycled content. (See City Ordinance, Chapter 1 - 12.3)

Implementation and Enforcement

Disposal bans and restrictions on high volume recyclable materials, including green waste, cardboard, tires, auto batteries, white goods and scrap metals, are enforced at the City's disposal sites.

Inspectors monitor trucks unloading at the landfill, H-POWER and transfer stations. By visual assessment, an inspector determines if a truckload is over the limit on restricted materials or contains any amount of banned materials. The offending vehicle can be denied access to City disposal facilities for up to two weeks per violation. The Chief of the Refuse Division will determine the penalty and duration. The company, not the individual truck driver, is responsible for compliance of all trucks affiliated with the company.

Mandatory recycling affecting specific types of businesses (e.g., glass recycling for bars and restaurants, paper recycling for office buildings, food waste recycling for hotels, grocery stores, food manufacturers/processors, food courts and hospitals) is enforced at the point of generation. The City conducts annual site inspections of businesses that are required to recycle. If a business is not in compliance with the City's mandatory recycling ordinances, a Recycling Specialist will work with management to set up a recycling program or improve/correct a failing system.

The law also allows for the requirements to be suspended for any business if the cost to collect and recycle is more than the cost to collect and dispose of the targeted materials. Requests to suspend the requirements for a business should be directed to the City’s Recycling Office. Each case will be evaluated individually. City Recycling Specialists will meet with the business, assess the problems specific to that site and work with the business to set up recycling operations. Through this evaluation and assistance process the City’s Specialist will determine whether recycling is feasible for the business.

Recycling and collection service companies that encounter businesses that are uncooperative or uninformed should report those businesses to the City’s Recycling Office. City Recycling Specialists will contact the business, clarify the requirements and offer assistance.