• Hilo, Hawai’i, is set to roll out a first-of-its-kind citywide reusable serveware program called Ho’i.
• The Ho’i reusable program comes as a county-wide ordinance banning single-use plastic serveware is set to take effect at year’s end.

In December 2025, the Hawai’i County Council passed Bill 83, an ordinance requiring all takeout serviceware to be reusable or compostable. Despite opposition from some businesses and Mayor Kimo Alameda over cost concerns, the bill became an ordinance, set to take effect in December of this year.

The city of Hilo, with a population of approximately 50,000 people, is getting a head start and launching a new reusable takeout serveware program called Ho‘i, the Hawai’ian word for return. Ho’i is a partnership between the city, county, and the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant, with non-profit Perpetual, and is the first comprehensive citywide reuse takeout box program in the US.