Many people do not properly dispose of household hazardous waste (HHW), including paint, automotive products and household and outdoor chemicals, thus creating lots of safety and environmental issues.
“HHW should never be emptied into sinks or drains, flushed down toilets, poured onto the ground, discarded in storm drains or placed in regular trash for pickup,” said Hana Berres, who serves as Stormwater Education Training Manager in the Jefferson County Roads and Transportation Department.
That’s why Jefferson County is sponsoring a free, public Household Hazardous Waste Day on April 12 from 8-11:30 a.m. at three sites:
• First Baptist Church of Gardendale (940 Main St.)
• Classic Car Motoring (3900 Grant Mill Road, Irondale)
• City of Bessemer Public Works Laydown Yard (1205 15th Ave. N.)
The event will allow residents to safely dispose of HHW from their garages, basements, kitchens and bathrooms, as well as TVs, electronics and paper for shredding.
HHW Items accepted at the drop-off include — but are not limited to — the following:
• Automotive products: such as oil, gas, tires, batteries, cleaners, degreasers and filters.
• Household products: including aerosols, chemicals, cleaners, batteries, and light bulbs and tubes
• Outdoor products: including insecticides, pool chemicals, yard chemicals and septic tank additives.
• Paint products: such as paints, resins, sealants, stains, solvents, adhesives, thinners, turpentine, varnishes and wallpaper cement.
• Miscellaneous items: including fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, large appliances and household cooking oil and grease.
Residents should not toss HHW in the garbage, because this merely sends it to the landfill.
“Landfills aren’t designed to manage things like cleaning chemicals, oil paints, batteries, fire extinguishers or mercury-containing items, such as thermometers and old thermostats,” Beres said. “Sending HHW to landfills also creates dangerous situations for waste workers and leaches harmful chemicals.”
When chemicals are placed in trash cans, they can create hazardous conditions for trash collectors. When compressed by trash compactors, these substances can combine and produce harmful vapors. For example, mixing Clorox and ammonia from two separate households can be particularly dangerous.
You should also avoid flushing HHW materials or pouring them down the drain.
“Our water reclamation facilities are built to handle only what’s necessary — pee, poo, and toilet paper,” Beres said. “Items like used cooking oil and grease from pots and pans contribute to costly repairs by clogging pipes and jamming equipment.”
Worse yet, discarding HHW on the side of the road leads to immediate contamination of our streams and lakes.
The county’s other HHW drop-off this year will be held Oct. 18 from 8-11:30 a.m. at Camp Ketona in Birmingham and at Camp Bessemer.
Two other events solely for electronics drop-off and paper shredding will be held May 10 at the Jefferson County Center Point Satellite Courthouse and June 14 at the Jefferson County Valley Reclamation Facility in Bessemer.
For more information about the April 12 dropoff — including the items the county accepts — call 205-325-8741 or go to jccal.org.
You may also download the MyJeffCo App or use the QR code with the ad.
