Hazardous waste event gathers 19,000 pounds

A total of 203 households brought more than 19,000 pounds of hazardous, harmful or recyclable materials to a recent household hazardous-waste disposal event.

The items were collected Oct. 25 at the Dyer County Fairgrounds.

A state contractor, Clean Harbors Inc., will incinerate, landfill or recycle most of the materials, Dyer County Litter Coordinator Ersley McLemore reported.

Some 9,000 pounds of electronic wastes, such as televisions, computers and associated components, and rechargeable batteries were turned in that day. Those items also will be recycled and reused.

Approximately 1,000 pounds of automotive batteries are to be recycled by NAPA Auto Parts.

The event was sponsored by Dyer County and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's Solid Waste Management Division. Several groups assisted, including the University of Tennessee Extension Service, Dyersburg Civitan Club, Dyer County Sheriff's Department, Dyersburg Police Department, Dyersburg Solid Waste Management Department, NAPA Auto Parts, Blue Rhino Propane, RCRB Battery Recycle and the local news media.

"Our household hazardous-waste mobile-collection service provides the people of Tennessee with a safe, environmentally friendly way to dispose of unwanted household chemicals and other potentially hazardous wastes at no cost," said Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke.

The average home in Tennessee produces 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year, TDEC reported. Typical items to dispose of include cleaning fluids, pesticides, mercury thermometers and thermostats, swimming pool chemicals, paint thinner and automotive fluids. Also accepted are fluorescent bulbs and electronics, such as televisions, computer monitors, keyboards, computer mouse devices and computer processing units.

HHW material is considered flammable, toxic, reactive and/or corrosive and should not be placed in with regular garbage.

To keep these items out of the municipal waste stream and Class I landfills, the state encourages counties to hold household hazardous-waste collection events. The collection events are open to all Tennessee residents, despite the location of the collection event.

In 2007, almost 1.8 million pounds of household hazardous waste, including 377,493 pounds of electronics, were collected from 23,905 households at collection events across the state. Since the program's inception in 1993, households have properly disposed of more than 16.7 million pounds of material.

To learn more about the state's household hazardous-waste collection efforts, visit the Web site: www.tennessee.gov/environment/swm/hhw/in....