RRR RECYCLING & CURBSIDE COLLECTION ON OAHU, HAWAII 

RRR owner Dominic Henriques, lived in Oregon, while obtaining his B.S. Degree in Environmental Science and had first hand experience with bottle redemption and mandatory recycling.  In response to the C&C of Honolulu’s bid request for a commodity processor to process Oahu’s proposed curbside recyclables, Dominic, with a strong belief in recycling, was determined to offer a competitive rate to allow this program to commence on Oahu. RRR Recycling has been the processor of Honolulu’s “blue bin” curbside commodity since 2007.

RRR Recycling has installed Hawaii’s first semi-automated sortline to efficiently process commodity from the City Curbside Collection, Commercial and Industrial Customers and RRR Recycling’s HI-5 Redemption Centers islandwide. Honolulu City trucks deliver recycled material collected from Oahu residents “blue bins”.  City & County of Honolulu Single Stream Recycling refers to a system in which all paper fibers, plastics, metals and other containers are mixed in a collection truck, instead of being sorted into separate commodities (newspaper, paperboard, corrugated fiberboard, plastic, glass, etc.) by the resident. 

In single stream, both the collection and processing systems are designed to handle this fully commingled mixture of recyclables, with materials being separated for reuse at RRR Recycling’s materials recovery facility.

 A busy day of processing recycled material for baling and shipping to end user markets worldwide to be remade into new products.  RRR recycles over 20,000 tons of material annually.

Recyclables are processed through sort-line, segregated and baled by commodity type for shipment to end user mills.

WHAT GOES WHERE

» Green bins: Green waste includes grass, tree and hedge trimmings
» Blue bins: Mixed recyclables include newspaper; white office paper; corrugated cardboard; glass bottles and jars; aluminum cans; metal food cans; and plastic bottles coded No. 1 and No. 2. Please remove any of the following items from your office paper before recycling, staples, clips, envelopes, sticky labels, and/or glossy paper.
» Gray bins: Garbage, including plastic bags, Styrofoam, junk mail, magazines, cereal boxes and other chipboard, food cans, and plastic containers other than those coded No. 1 or No. 2.   

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

» Newspaper: Sent to mills, largely in Asia, to be processed into more newspaper, wrapping paper and molded packaging.
» Corrugated Cardboard: Sent to Asia to be pulped and remade into more cardboard and brown paper bags.
» Yard Waste: Stays on the island and is turned into mulch and compost for use in local landscaping.
» Aluminum Cans: Sent to the mainland to be melted into new aluminum cans and other products, including steel.
» Glass bottles: Some will stay on the island to be crushed for use in construction as back fill or road base. The remainder is shipped to the West Coast to be melted into new glass products.
» Plastics: Sent to the mainland or Asia to be re-manufactured into various products including, carpeting, plastic lumber, toys, fiberfill, and detergent bottles. 

 For More Information on Curbside Collection:
https://www.honolulu.gov/opala

RRR Recycling Services Hawaii 
Phone:  808-682-5600 or 808-845-9790   Fax: 808-682-5603
Mailing:  P.O. Box 4660  Kaneohe, HI 96744