What kinds of hazardous waste lurk under your kitchen sink? Are there half empty pesticide containers hiding on your garage shelves? What about that old computer stored in the back of the closet?
Our homes are filled with old, outdated, or broken items that we don’t know how to get rid of. Things our parents routinely threw in the trash or dumped down the drain now end up in boxes cluttering up a corner of the basement because we don’t know how to dispose of them properly.
Items such as pesticides and household chemicals aren’t only a problem for landfills, says Daniel Napoleon, head of recycling at the Mercer County Improvement Authority. If there is a fire in a home they can create even more of a hazard if they explode or release toxic gases into the air.
To help rid Mercer County homes of hazardous waste and old electronic equipment the Mercer County Improvement Authority will hold a Household Chemical Waste Disposal Day on Saturday, September 17, at the John T. Dempster Fire School on Bakers Basin/Lawrence Station Road, in Lawrenceville.
The Improvement Authority holds Chemical Disposal Days twice a year, in the spring and fall. The events are “very popular,” says Napoleon. About 1,”500 cars drop off hazardous materials during each event. The special disposal days are “the best and the only way” to dispose of things such as household chemicals and pesticides, paint thinner or propane gas tanks, he adds.
What types of items can be dropped off during the day? Aerosol cans, household batteries, photographic chemicals, used motor oil and lighter fluid are a few of the items that can be disposed of that day. If you have propane gas tanks you no longer use, old car batteries or used oil filters they can also be taken to the site. Pesticides and herbicides, pool chemicals, paint thinner, oil-based paints, stains, and varnishes, gasoline, anti-freeze, gas and oil mixtures, driveway sealer, insect repellants, and mercury can all be disposed of during the day.
Just as important is the list of what not to bring. A chemist will be on hand at the site to identify anything “unusual or unknown” that may be brought in, he says, and “all necessary hazmat precautions” will be taken at the site. Items than cannot be turned in that day include latex paint (OK for regular pick-up), infectious waste, sylvex, heating oil, radioactive materials, explosives and munitions, railroad ties, asbestos, agent orange 2, 4, 5T or dioxin, tires, wood, fencing, fluorescent light bulbs, and AC units.
What happens to the many items that are turned in during the day? We often wonder if recycling is really worth it, or if the items that are brought to a center are actually just dumped in a landfill. “Recycling is market driven,” Napoleon says.
Recycling companies take the items, break them down into components, and sell them, he said. For example, many of the larger items are “taken to the Midwest where a company sorts them into different parts” such as aluminum or other metals, he explains. The metals are then sold to companies that use them in making new equipment.
The electronic revolution has prompted the newest wave of waste materials, called “E-waste.” The problem of how to handle all of this new waste has also created a new industry to handle it. New Jersey is one of the first states in the country to legislate the proper disposal of E-waste. Concerns over mercury batteries and other hazardous materials in the electronic equipment have prompted the new laws, which make it illegal to dispose of electronic equipment in landfills, Napoleon says.
The computers and other electronic items collected at the Mercer County recycling day are taken to a company in Lakewood, Napoleon says. Supreme Computer Recycle, “breaks down the equipment and everything usable is refurbished and sent to end markets.”
Supreme Computer Recycling is one of the oldest and largest computer recycling companies in the Northeast, he says. It has been in operation since 1992. The company’s policy is to attempt to keep as much as possible out of landfills.
What type of electronic equipment can be brought to the Mercer Count recycling day? Central processing units (CPUs) that are either working or non-working, can be turned in. Also modems, printers, keyboards, mouses, faxes, copiers, circuit boards, TVs, monitors, electrical wire, stereos, laptop computers and peripherals, scanners, phones and other telecom equipment, microwave ovens, VCRs, and camera equipment.
A driver’s license or other proof of Mercer County residency is needed. The event is also only for residential waste. No commercial or industrial recycling is allowed. More information can be found at at www.mcia-nj.com.
— Karen Miller
Household Chemical Waste Disposal Day, John T. Dempster Fire School, Bakers Basin Road, Lawrence, 609-278-8086. Rain or shine. Saturday, September 17, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
