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Haunting Hazardous Waste You don’t even have to see the container, because just about every time you enter the basement or back of the garage you can feel its presence. That can of methyl ethyl death pesticide (“the good stuff”), or jar of grandpa’s “special cleaner”, that’s so special it eats metal, has been sitting on the same shelf for lo’ these many years. You’ve been meaning to take care of it, but just don’t seem to be around during the annual hazardous waste collections. The thought of this stuff in your house is one of those little annoyances that just keeps bugging you. What if the kids or grandkids get into this stuff, or accidentally knock it off the shelf? What if the can, which is already showing signs of corrosion gives way? There is a solution, namely the Oneida County Hazardous Waste Site, located at the landfill. The Site is open Wednesdays by appointment, Thursdays from 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 8:00 a.m.– 12:30 p.m.. The Hazwaste Site’s sole purpose is to handle waste paints, solvents and other hazardous wastes. Paints and solvents cost 70 cents a pound to dispose of and “lab pack” items such as pesticides, mercury, acids, bases and oxidizers cost $ 1.60 per pound. Past experience with mobile collections has shown that the cost to clean out a house will typically range from $60 to over $100. Sounds like a lot, but in most cases this represents 10, 20 or even 30 years of accumulation. Now $3 - $10 a year really isn’t too bad a price for making your home or cabin safer. And now, before your very eyes ladies and gentleman, I will tell you two ways to reduce your hazardous waste bill by 20–80%. Most of the materials (over 65%) we take into our hazardous waste program are paints, with the vast majority being oil or latex based paints, so… First, you can combine partial cans of similar paints (latex with latex, oil base with oil base) together. This reduces your costs by reducing the total disposal weight that you pay for, or… Second, you can dry down oil or latex paints and legally landfill them. Now just poppin’ off the lid won’t generally work unless you have less than an inch of paint in the bottom of your can. What works very well is to mix the liquid latex or oil base paints with sawdust, kitty litter or oil absorbent material. To further speed the drying process, place this mixture outside in a shallow, plastic lined box on a warm, sunny day. If there’s a breeze, all the better! When all of the paint has solidified, it can be disposed of with your regular garbage. The bottom line is to properly handle these wastes to protect our land, waters and families. Besides that, you’ll be able to hang out in the back of the garage with out “hearing voices”. Now think of your savings in psycho analysis! |
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©2004 Oneida County Solid Waste Department
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501
PO Box 400
Rhinelander, WI 54501
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