Hawaii County, HI Trash & Recycling: Pickup Rules & Schedules (2026)

The code does not describe curbside collection: instead every owner or occupant of a residence, business, or premises must deliver solid waste to a County-approved SWD facility "in accordance with department rules" (Section 20-03-01). The Department of Environmental Management must keep SWD facilities used for household waste disposal, collection, and transfer open to the public at least two days a week (Section 20-02-03). Only businesses, government agencies, religious entities, and nonprofit organizations need a disposal permit, applied for on a department form and issued by the director before they may dump at any facility (Section 20-03-02(a)-(b)).

The director can suspend or revoke that permit for failing to pay disposal charges or special handling fees, failing to comply with chapter 20, or ignoring disposal procedures the department sets (Section 20-03-02(c)(1)-(3)). Material once delivered to an SWD facility becomes County property; no one may separate, collect, or carry off any article from a facility without the director's authorization, a salvage restriction enforced under Section 20-03-04. Entering a facility during nonworking hours, or for any purpose other than disposal, makes a person a trespasser subject to the chapter's penalties (Section 20-03-05).

Chapter-wide enforcement (Sections 20-02-21 to 20-02-23) treats any violation of Chapter 20, its rules, or a permit condition as a code violation: the director serves a notice of violation and order that can impose a civil fine up to $1,000 plus up to $1,000 per day the violation continues, becomes final after thirty days unless a meeting is requested, and can be appealed to the Environmental Management Commission within fifteen days of the director's final decision. Criminal conviction carries a fine up to $1,000 and/or up to thirty days in jail, with each additional day a separate offense. The mayor may waive tipping fees for one-time community events or for owners remediating illegal dump sites they did not create (Section 20-04-01(c)).