Tire, household hazardous waste collection is Saturday
Comet staff report

The Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District and Carroll County are gearing up for the tire and household hazardous waste collection. Residents may recycle scrap tires and hazardous chemicals at the Carroll County Fairgrounds in Flora this Saturday from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The first 10 tires per vehicle are free. Each additional tire is $1. The tires are loaded onto semi trailers and transported by Elk Distributing from Elkhart where they are then sorted for processing into landscaping mulch, playground surfacing, tire derived fuel and various other uses.

Last year, the district collected over four semi-trailers of tires (1200 tires per trailer) and over 15,000 pounds of toxic materials in Carroll County alone. The sixcounty district collected a total of 34 semi-trailers of tires and 97,600 pounds of hazardous waste.

Paint is the most commonly collected item. Oil, oil filters and antifreeze are also collected in large quantity. DDT and Cynogas have also been brought in.

"It feels good to be able to provide a service that will remove those items from area homes and barns," said Carol Stradling, District Director.

She pointed out that compact fluorescent light bulbs are a great energy saver, but they contain mercury. She said exposure to mercury vapors or consumption has harmful effects on a person's health. Stradling advised that when a resident is ready to dispose of CFLs or any fluorescent light bulb, it should be contained in a plastic bag and brought in for recycling.

Stradling said this annual event is well attended and appreciated by residents and small business owners within the district.

"It has been said that there are more chemicals in the average household today than there were in most chemical labs in the 1970s," Stradling said. "The best solution is to buy only what you need and to use it up. However, if that is not possible, this event offers an opportunity to recycle or properly dispose of the material at no cost."

Anyone who resides within our six-county district may use this service and may attend any one of the six collection events.

Counties served are Benton, Carroll, Jasper, Newton, Pulaski and White counties.

Stradling said no materials may be dropped off prior to the event. Items left without authorization are considered "illegally dumped" and will be turned over to the proper authorities for investigation.

For more information about the Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District's collections or other activities of the district call 800- 856-0980 or visit www.nwiswd.org.