To: Honorable Mayor Arakawa, Kyle Ginoza, Director of Environmental Management, Keith Regan, Managing Director, Mike White, Councilman, Don Couch, Councilman, Don Guzman, Councilman, and Elle Cochran, Council Member

Save Curbside Recycling on Maui

The 3 Can Plan curbside recycling program is due to be cancelled February 1st--even though it has already been funded until June 30--for Maui Meadows and Kihei. The success of the program has been clouded by a lack of transparency in the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and the County Council has ordered a full performance audit of that department.

We are asking that the 3 Can Plan curbside recycling be continued until the DEM audit is completed, the DEM provides a full public written report and account of the pilot program within 90 days, and then hold public meetings to discuss the program including feasibility, desire and cost of expanding curbside recycling island wide.

Why is this important?

This is an urgent moment for recycling on Maui. The pilot 3 Can Plan curbside recycling program is to be prematurely terminated on February 1st even though it was funded through June 30, 2015. If the plan is shut down, the opportunity for Maui to have island wide curbside recycling will vanish. We cannot let this happen.

Curbside programs have been implemented and fully embraced by communities around the globe that have far fewer environmental concerns than we do on our island, and that have far fewer recycling commitments and obligations than we do.

The goals of the pilot 3 Can Plan in Maui Meadows and parts of Kihei were to determine the program’s popularity, logistics, effectiveness and costs with the intention of expanding the program island wide. And by these criteria, the program appears to be a success.

However, the success of Maui’s curbside recycling test program has been clouded by a lack of transparency in the Department of Environmental Management (DEM). Also, questionable conclusions, misleading statements and county politics have cast doubt on the accuracy of the DEM’s figures and heightened skepticism about department claims that curbside recycling is not viable for Maui. This is one of many reasons the County Council recently ordered a full performance audit of that department.