Allegan County Resource Recovery wil
l sponsor a special recycling event for household hazardous waste, TVs and computers and electronic devices from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at the Harding’s Market parking lot, 302 Reno Drive, in Wayland.
Residents in area townships, villages and cities who pay the surcharge on their home tax bills can drop off their old and unusable devices free of charge. Residents must live in the City of Wayland, Wayland Township, Dorr Township, Allegan Township, Gun Plain Township, Hopkins Township, Leighton Township, Martin Township, Monterey Township, the City of Otsego, Salem Township, Otsego Township and Trowbridge Township.
No appointments are necessary, but residents must bring with identification to prove they live in the affected areas.
“Items accepted include old TVs, computers, paper documents, pesticides, cleaners, paints, that deck sealer that you were going to use and of course a gallon of old gas laying around since the 1970s,” said Allegan County Recycling Coordinator Ben Williams.
This also means that items such as scanners, printers, gaming units, DVD and CD players, radios, cell phones, copiers, answering machines, calculators, blenders, iPods, MP3 players, keyboards and mice, laptops, monitors, blackberries, floppy disks and CDs can be dumped. It also applies to household items such as oil-based paint, thinner, adhesives, glues, weed killer, fertilizer, pest poisons, anti-freeze, fluorescent light bulbs, mercury thermometers, household batteries and aerosol cans.
Williams said Resource Recovery has hosted similar events for about 20 years.
“The last few years, participation has been exploding due to residents’ awareness of these events and the increased services added.”
The first collection totaled 7,500 lbs. of material, he said, the last two years averaged 20,000 lbs of electronics, which is a large semi-trailer full from the floor to the ceiling.
Williams added that household hazardous waste recycling is a valuable service for residents who are storing a wide variety of “bad stuff.”
“This is the safest way to get rid of old paint, pesticides, auto fluids, solvents, mercury and cleaners,” he said, “to finally get rid of these materials before they ended up in the trash, environment or caused bodily harm.”
Electronic devices are collected by a reputable electronic recycling company that operates under a zero landfill, and hard drive destruction policy.
For more information, call Williams at 269-686-4559 or e-mail bwilliams@allegancounty.org
This event is funded by a $25 surcharge on residential homes’ winter tax bills.
