IF YOU GO* What: Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day* Where: Tri-State Exhibition Center, exit 20 off I-75* When: 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.* Cost: FreeAcceptable items: Automobile fluids (oil, antifreeze, etc.), oil-based paints, pesticides/fertilizers, medicines/drugs, computers, TVs, fluorescent tubes.Unacceptable items: Explosives, ammunition, radioactive waste, commercial/medical/farm wastes.Recyclables: Bradley County Landfill currently accepts used oils, antifreeze, and lead batteries year round free of charge.DISPOSAL TIPS* Do keep products in original containers.* Do place items in a cardboard box lined with newspaper or plastic.* Do relabel containers if label missing.* Do not mix two or more items in one container.For more information, please call 423-476-9160.
By Paul Leach
Correspondent
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The Bradley County Landfill will host its annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day at the Tri-State Exhibition Center on Saturday.
The state will pay for this event, which Bradley County funded last year at a cost of $35,000. But the tight state budget also has organizers wondering whether they’ll be able to continue taking some wastes, particularly electronics and latex paints, because of the expense of disposal.
“E-waste and paint compose about 70 percent, by weight, of the waste accepted at collection events,” said Paula Mitchell, Tennessee Household Hazardous Waste Program coordinator.
The event aims to gather and safely dispose of chemicals and other substances that can endanger the environment. Sponsors are Santek Environmental Inc., Bradley County government, Cleveland/Bradley Keep America Beautiful and Cleveland Utilities.
Cheryl Dunson, Santek Environmental Inc.’s vice president of marketing, said e-waste is the fastest-growing trend in household hazardous waste collection. She said this may be the last time that such waste will be collected at the annual event.
Bradley County now offers year-round collection of electronics, excluding computer monitors and TVs, at its Peerless Road recycling center.
Ms. Mitchell said program coordinators are “mulling over” the idea of excluding latex paint from future collection events. Latex paint is more of a messy nuisance than a hazard, she said.
“People sometimes clean out 30 years of latex paint for these events,” Ms. Mitchell said.
Instead, it’s fine just to let paint dry completely and just throw it away in the garbage, she said.
But oil-based paints still should be handled as hazardous waste, Ms. Mitchell said.