Hawaiʻi Department of Health deposit beverage container program to update rates

Hawaiʻi Department of Health Deposit Beverage Container Program is revising its segregated rates.

All certified redemption centers are required to use the revised rates beginning Oct. 1.

Segregated rates are used when redeeming deposit beverage containers by weight to convert container weight into an equivalent container count. Rates represent the average number of containers per pound by material type including plastic, glass, aluminum and bi-metal.

Rates are periodically updated because beverage container sizes and weights change with time.

The most significant change is the elimination of two different plastic rates and adoption of a single rate for plastic, for which its revised rate represents the average weight of a load of mixed‑size plastic containers.

This change is based on a segregated rate study conducted by Cascadia Consulting Group that counted and weighed by hand a random sample of more than 145,000 individual HI-5 containers at certified redemption centers throughout the state.

Consumers can request the redemption center operator count deposit beverage containers. If asked, redemption center operators must count loads of up to 200 containers.

They also can ask redemption center operators if they are willing to count larger loads of more than 200 containers during a less busy part of the day, which would be at the discretion of the operator.

Click here to view a handout about the revised segregated rates.