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House members debate proposal for lithium-ion battery disposal facility, urge producer responsibility
Summary
Members questioned whether local government should run lithium-ion battery disposal, with some urging producer responsibility and others warning against county capacity issues; the House entered reservations and comments as the standing committee report was adopted.
Members of the Hawaii House debated a proposal that would encourage the City and County of Honolulu to consider developing a facility for lithium‑ion battery disposal.
Representative Iwamoto warned against placing primary responsibility on government and argued the obligation should rest with producers and sellers of batteries, calling for an extended producer-responsibility approach: “We should be actually putting more responsibility on the producers … who actually create the product and ship it back to them so that they could dispose of it or recycle whatever parts they can,” Iwamoto said.
Representative Moraoka spoke in strong opposition, citing past county problems with disposal and landfill siting and warning that a new facility could be placed in underserved communities: “My fear is this probably gonna be stuffed on our throats as well,” Moraoka said, referencing county disposal failures.
Representative Shimizu said she was supportive with reservations and stressed that the City and County of Honolulu did not provide testimony, meaning questions about local capacity and logistics remain unanswered.
The comments were entered as reservations on the standing committee report; members adopted the committee report but asked that concerns be noted and that any move toward a facility include consultation with local jurisdictions and more detailed planning.
