IF YOU GO
What: Household Hazardous Waste DayWhen: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. SaturdayWhere: Tri-State Exhibition Center, 200 Natures Trail SWWhat: Acceptable items are automotive and marine products; home maintenance and improvement products; lawn and garden products; miscellaneous products like pool chemicals; electronics (console TVs must be dismantled).Unacceptable items are empty paint cans and solidified paint; medical and biological products such as needles; explosives and ammunition; radioactive items like smoke detectors and radium paint; business and institutional waste; miscellaneous items like cooking oil and empty containers of any kind.Guidelines: Products must be properly packaged and placed in cardboard boxes or plastic containers.Source: Keep America Beautiful
CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The year's first household hazardous waste collection day in Bradley County was so successful, a second one has been set.
Many people came to the Tri-State Exhibition Center for the spring collection day April 7 and, since the money is available to pay for it, volunteers are holding a follow-up day Saturday.
A survey at the spring collection day showed participants would like to see the collection day twice a year.
Cheryl Dunson, executive vice president for marketing at Santek Waste Services, one of the event's sponsors, reminds residents that people emptying their truck beds and car trunks are volunteers, so the household materials should be properly packaged to prevent spills.
"It's just a matter of courtesy to the volunteers and also the motorists waiting in line," she said.
When loose material has to be collected, it adds time to the wait for others, she said.
Another pointer is that empty paint cans or paint so old it has solidified are not a hazardous waste. Go ahead and put them in the regular garbage, Dunson said.
Santek, the contract operator for the Bradley County landfill, accepts batteries and oil at the landfill all year, and people with those items are directed to that site next to the Tri-State Exhibition Center.
Bradley County pays for the collection day out of money it receives from Santek for operating the landfill. That money is in a special account that is restricted by state law from being used for anything but environmental programs, Bradley County Mayor D. Gary Davis said.
Contact staff writer Randall Higgins at rhiggins@timesfreepress.com.