Household Hazardous Waste Mobile Collection Service in Henry, Humphreys and Obion Counties on May 30
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 | 07:00pm
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s mobile household hazardous waste collection service will be in Henry, Humphreys and Obion Counties on May 30.
“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. “This service travels across the state holding collection events in local communities, and we encourage all Tennesseans to take advantage of the opportunity to utilize it.”
On Saturday, May 30, any Tennessee resident may bring his or her household hazardous waste to the following locations. (Note that hours listed indicate the local time for each event.)
Henry County – Henry County Recycling Center in Paris from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. The local contact for this HHW collection event is Ron Watkins at (731) 641-0018.
Humphreys County – Humphreys County Fairgrounds in Waverly from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. The local contact for this HHW collection event is Jere Corlew at (931) 296-1555.
Obion County – Obion County Recycling Center in Union City from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. The local contact for this HHW collection event is Mike Cary at (731) 885-8109.
The average home in Tennessee produces 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year. 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. Console televisions must be dismantled.
Items no longer accepted are alkaline and rechargeable batteries. Alkaline batteries sold after May 13, 1996, have no mercury added and may be discarded in the regular trash. Nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd), nickel metal hydride (Ni-MH), lithium ion (Li-Ion) and small sealed lead-acid (Pb) batteries may be recycled through the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation. You may find a drop-off location near you by entering your ZIP code at www.rbrc.org/call2recycle/dropoff/index.php. Other items not accepted include microwave ovens, ammunition, explosives, medical waste and any items from a school, commercial business or agri-business.
When transporting materials to the site, place containers in sturdy boxes lined with newspaper to prevent spills and cross-contamination in the trunk of a car or back of a truck. Be sure to keep materials away from children and pets. Materials should be kept in the original container whenever possible. If not, place the waste in a plastic jug with a secure lid and label its contents.
In 2008, almost 1.4 million pounds of household hazardous waste, including 315,272 pounds of electronics, were collected from 19,799 households at collection events across the state. Since the program’s inception in 1993, households have properly disposed of more than 19.2 million pounds of material. HHW material is considered flammable, toxic, reactive and/or corrosive and should not be placed in with regular garbage.
For more information on the household hazardous waste mobile collection service, please call
1-800-287-9013 or visit www.tn.gov/environment/swm/hhw.
1-800-287-9013 or visit www.tn.gov/environment/swm/hhw.
###