Environmental Progress - Fall 2004

37 IEPA Household Hazardous Waste Collections Held in 2004

More than 28,000 households participate across the state

The Household Hazardous Waste Collection program, held on Saturdays in the spring and fall, continued to be popular during 2004 with 28,648 households dropping off potentially hazardous domestic items for recycling and safe disposal.

The program is sponsored by IEPA with local governments and organizations as partners. Since the program began in 1989, 360 one-day collections have been held, with more than 315,000 households participating.

In 2004, the waste turned in by citizens filled 4,734 standard 55-gallon drums. Most of the materials were recycled, treated or incinerated. The largest category was poisons and pesticides, accounting for nearly 17 percent of the total volume.

"The program not only gets potentially harmful chemicals out of homes but also keeps them out of landfills through recycling," said IEPA Director Renee Cipriano. "This continues to be an extremely popular program, and we are grateful for the support of Governor Blagojevich and the Illinois General Assembly."

Two new features were added to this year's collections. Donations of eyeglasses were also accepted and distributed to those in need through the Lions Club International program. In addition, cell phones were also collected and passed on to local charitable groups.

Some of the collections were combined with an IEPA program to provide rebates toward electric and manual mowers in exchange for turning in old gas-powered mowers, and less-polluting gas cans were exchanged at some events.

Residents were particularly encouraged to bring mercury and mercury containing products, such as, fever thermometers, old thermostats and elemental mercury from hobbyists, as part of the multi-faceted initiative by Governor Blagojevich and IEPA to reduce the amount of this hazardous material in our environment. More than 13 of the 55-gallon drums were filled with mercury turned in at the 2004 collections.

The locations of the 2004 collections were Crystal Lake, Macomb, Vandalia, Chicago, Itasca/Wood Dale, Peru, Sullivan, Dixon, DuQuoin, Oak Forest, Bloomington, Mattoon, St. Charles, Sparta, East Peoria, Swansea, Martinsville, Mount Prospect, Westville, Norridge, Arthur, Yorkville, Robinson, South Holland, Nashville, Monticello, Pontiac, Sycamore, Kankakee, Chicago DeVry, Chicago Tech West, East Moline, Greenville, Downers Grove, Carbondale, and Lawrenceville.