News & Updates

Chamber of Commerce Hawaii has launched a new web portal where businesses can submit regulatory issues such as licensing and permitting delays to the chamber. The chamber will then take those issues to legislators and regulators so that they can be addressed. [added July 7, 2023]

The owners of more than 450 buildings in Honolulu will have to report their yearly energy and water use this summer under a new city ordinance that aims to cut down on the use of natural resources and greenhouse gas emissions. [added April 21, 2023]

The effect of the coronavirus pandemic on Hawaii’s restaurant industry hits home most strongly when reading through the names of establishments that have closed. A significant number of Hawaii restaurants have permanently closed since pandemic began. [added September 11, 2020]

Restaurant industry leaders in Honolulu painted a very bleak picture for their businesses’ survival in testifying before the City Council’s Economic Assistance and Revitalization Committee. “Tourism might take four to five years to recover,” said Victor Lim, legislative liaison for the Hawaii Restaurant Association and McDonald’s franchise owner. [added June 25, 2020]

In the latest sign of how dramatically the coronavirus pandemic is altering the social landscape, even the liberal San Francisco Bay Area has banned reusable grocery bags as a sanitary measure, dismaying recycling advocates who say durable sacks should still be allowed at stores. [added April 2, 2020]

Mayor Harry Kim temporarily suspended Hawaiʻi County Code Chapter 14 Article 20 Plastic Bag Reduction, among other revised statutes. The decision was made, the mayor said, because the statute hinders efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. Allowing single-use plastic bags for food and other material transport “should be allowed,” the proclamation continued. [added April 2, 2020]

Bans on single-use plastic bags -- one of the most pervasive sources of pollution -- are taking effect in cities and states across the U.S. as efforts to combat global plastic production pick up. But while the moves are being lauded by environmentalists and the local governments that support them, some are questioning whether the move will be effective, primarily because of the unintended environmental consequences associated with replacement materials such as paper, thick plastic and reusable bags. [added February 25, 2020]

Mike Tan, vice president of sales and marketing at Pan Pacific Manufacturing Inc., set out to develop a sealable, tamper-evident bag that's still consumer friendly. [added December 12, 2017]

Recycling codes are used to identify the materials out of which the item is made, to facilitate easier recycling process. [added June 8, 2017]

A different bag: Those flimsy shopping bags have simply been replaced. [added July 13, 2016]