A free household chemical collection will be held at Southern Illinois Airport near Carbondale on Saturday, September 20. This collection program helps residents safely dispose of old and unwanted household chemicals. Residents can drop off waste at the site on the date of the event between 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. only.
Items to be accepted at the collection include: paint, paint thinner, aerosols, household cleaners, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, motor oil, antifreeze, old gasoline, batteries of all types, solvents, polishes, pool chemicals, and lawn chemicals. Also accepted will be unwanted or outdated medications, both prescription and over-thecounter.
These items should be brought in their original container, but you may black out all personal information other than the drug name. Do not bring in controlled substances, needles or syringes.
Citizens are especially encouraged to bring in mercury-containing devices, such as thermometers, thermostats, and compact fluorescent bulbs. Mercury is a liquid element that can be harmful to human health and the environment when such devices are broken or disposed of in landfills. The first 100 residents to bring in a mercury thermometer will receive one new, non-mercury digital thermometer in exchange. Mercury thermometers can be identified by the silver liquid inside them (thermometers with red liquid do not contain mercury and should continue to be used). Please bring thermometers in a sealed plastic bag to help prevent breakage and spills.
Items which will absolutely not be accepted at the collection include: explosives, ammunition, fireworks, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, propane tanks, farm machinery oil, electronics, appliances, tires, radioactive material, and medical waste. No business, industrial, agricultural or government wastes will be accepted. Eligible participants wishing to dispose of materials in containers larger than five gallons should contact Jackson County.
This rain or shine, one-day collection is open to all Illinois residents. The event is being sponsored by Jackson County Health Dept., Jackson County Board and Southern Illinois Airport. To get to the collection, from Illinois Route 13 west of Carbondale, take Airport Road north and follow the signs.
Please contact Jackson County Health Department at 684-3143, ext. 128 for more information, or visit www.RecycleJacksonCounty.org.
Who Has Household Chemicals?
Almost all households have some old or unwanted chemical products under the sink, in the basement or in the garage. These items include, SEQ CHAPTER \ h \ r 1paint, paint thinner, aerosols, cleaning supplies, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, motor oil, antifreeze, old gasoline, household and lead-acid batteries, solvents, polishes, pool chemicals, lawn chemicals, mercury-containing devices, old medicines, and many more.
What are the Impacts of Household Chemical Disposal?
These products, when thrown in the trash, poured down the drain, or illegally dumped on the ground, can have numerous impacts on public health and the environment.
Public Health: Without frequent local opportunities to properly dispose of these products, many residents store up their toxic chemicals. While in the home, many of these items pose a threat to children and pets that might unknowingly ingest or inhale them. In 2003, the Illinois Poison Center received nearly 14,000 calls involving household chemical incidents. When residents dispose of these items in their houehold trash, the various chemicals can mix in the garbage truck and cause unknown dangers to sanitation workers. Nationally, many sanitation workers are severley injured each year from these occurrences.
Environment: Without other disposal options, household chemicals are often tossed into the trash or poured down drains. This practice results in toxic chemicals in landfills, sewage treatment plants, and private sewage systems: all of which are not designed to handle these chemicals appropriately. Landfills are designed to manage solid wastes and not liquids. Liquids collected from the bottom of landfills are managed at sewage treatment plants. These plants are designed to remove solids and treat organic materials in wastewater. Household chemicals can kill off the beneficial bacteria that sewage treatment plants employ to treat sewage.
What’s the Public Need/Demand for Collection?
Every day the Jackson County Health Department receives calls from residents wishing to properly dispose of household chemical waste. While some items, like motor oil and antifreeze, can be recycled year-round at various locations in the area, many household chemicals cannnot.
The only option currently available to appropriately dispose of many of these materials is through a periodic collection event like the one being held on September 20.
This event is the eighth chemical collection sponsored by Jackson County in the past seven years. A total of 3,775 cars came through the first seven collection events.
We expect approximately 600 cars to come through the collection site on September 20.
How are Collected Chemicals Handled?
When residents bring their chemicals to the collection site, the items are unloaded and sorted by a trained hazardous waste contractor. Safety is the first priority for staff on-site and the public dropping off materials.
Participants receive instruction upon entering on how to proceed through the collection site. All collected items are segregated and packaged for shipment to off-site facilities.
All hazardous items are removed from the site by the end of the collection day.
Different methods are used to dispose or recycle the materials that are collected. Some items, such as poisons, are destroyed through incineration.
Other items that are flammable, like old gasoline or paint thinner, are burned for energy recovery.
And other materials, like batteries, can be recycled.
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A free household chemical collection will be held at Southern Illinois Airport near Carbondale on Saturday, September 20. This collection program helps residents safely dispose of old and unwanted household chemicals. Residents can drop off waste at the site on the date of the event between 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. only.
Items to be accepted at the collection include: paint, paint thinner, aerosols, household cleaners, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, motor oil, antifreeze, old gasoline, batteries of all types, solvents, polishes, pool chemicals, and lawn chemicals. Also accepted will be unwanted or outdated medications, both prescription and over-thecounter.
These items should be brought in their original container, but you may black out all personal information other than the drug name. Do not bring in controlled substances, needles or syringes.
Citizens are especially encouraged to bring in mercury-containing devices, such as thermometers, thermostats, and compact fluorescent bulbs. Mercury is a liquid element that can be harmful to human health and the environment when such devices are broken or disposed of in landfills. The first 100 residents to bring in a mercury thermometer will receive one new, non-mercury digital thermometer in exchange. Mercury thermometers can be identified by the silver liquid inside them (thermometers with red liquid do not contain mercury and should continue to be used). Please bring thermometers in a sealed plastic bag to help prevent breakage and spills.
Items which will absolutely not be accepted at the collection include: explosives, ammunition, fireworks, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, propane tanks, farm machinery oil, electronics, appliances, tires, radioactive material, and medical waste. No business, industrial, agricultural or government wastes will be accepted. Eligible participants wishing to dispose of materials in containers larger than five gallons should contact Jackson County.
This rain or shine, one-day collection is open to all Illinois residents. The event is being sponsored by Jackson County Health Dept., Jackson County Board and Southern Illinois Airport. To get to the collection, from Illinois Route 13 west of Carbondale, take Airport Road north and follow the signs.
Please contact Jackson County Health Department at 684-3143, ext. 128 for more information, or visit www.RecycleJacksonCounty.org.
Who Has Household Chemicals?
Almost all households have some old or unwanted chemical products under the sink, in the basement or in the garage. These items include, SEQ CHAPTER \ h \ r 1paint, paint thinner, aerosols, cleaning supplies, pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, motor oil, antifreeze, old gasoline, household and lead-acid batteries, solvents, polishes, pool chemicals, lawn chemicals, mercury-containing devices, old medicines, and many more.
What are the Impacts of Household Chemical Disposal?
These products, when thrown in the trash, poured down the drain, or illegally dumped on the ground, can have numerous impacts on public health and the environment.
Public Health: Without frequent local opportunities to properly dispose of these products, many residents store up their toxic chemicals. While in the home, many of these items pose a threat to children and pets that might unknowingly ingest or inhale them. In 2003, the Illinois Poison Center received nearly 14,000 calls involving household chemical incidents. When residents dispose of these items in their houehold trash, the various chemicals can mix in the garbage truck and cause unknown dangers to sanitation workers. Nationally, many sanitation workers are severley injured each year from these occurrences.
Environment: Without other disposal options, household chemicals are often tossed into the trash or poured down drains. This practice results in toxic chemicals in landfills, sewage treatment plants, and private sewage systems: all of which are not designed to handle these chemicals appropriately. Landfills are designed to manage solid wastes and not liquids. Liquids collected from the bottom of landfills are managed at sewage treatment plants. These plants are designed to remove solids and treat organic materials in wastewater. Household chemicals can kill off the beneficial bacteria that sewage treatment plants employ to treat sewage.
What’s the Public Need/Demand for Collection?
Every day the Jackson County Health Department receives calls from residents wishing to properly dispose of household chemical waste. While some items, like motor oil and antifreeze, can be recycled year-round at various locations in the area, many household chemicals cannnot.
The only option currently available to appropriately dispose of many of these materials is through a periodic collection event like the one being held on September 20.
This event is the eighth chemical collection sponsored by Jackson County in the past seven years. A total of 3,775 cars came through the first seven collection events.
We expect approximately 600 cars to come through the collection site on September 20.
How are Collected Chemicals Handled?
When residents bring their chemicals to the collection site, the items are unloaded and sorted by a trained hazardous waste contractor. Safety is the first priority for staff on-site and the public dropping off materials.
Participants receive instruction upon entering on how to proceed through the collection site. All collected items are segregated and packaged for shipment to off-site facilities.
All hazardous items are removed from the site by the end of the collection day.
Different methods are used to dispose or recycle the materials that are collected. Some items, such as poisons, are destroyed through incineration.
Other items that are flammable, like old gasoline or paint thinner, are burned for energy recovery.
And other materials, like batteries, can be recycled.
