From pesticides to herbicides, from aerosol cans to auto products and from mercury to propane tanks, when all was said and done, the 2004 Ocean County Household Hazardous Waste Collection program allowed residents to remove a combined 446,689 pounds of these materials from attics, basements and garages for proper disposal.
“By participating in this program, our residents keep potentially harmful materials from entering our waterways and the environment,” said Freeholder Director James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the county’s recycling program. “We continue to encourage the people that live in Ocean County to take advantage of this free program getting the material out of their homes and into the right hands.”
And when combined with the county’s Paint Management Program, the amount of materials collected this year will exceed 1 million pounds.
“Combining semiannual programs like household hazardous waste with year-round programs like paint management, provides our residents with numerous disposal options,” Lacey said. “These programs are making cleanups and clean-outs easier.”
This year’s collection program also focused on removing mercury from the waste stream and offered residents a mercury thermometer exchange program. More than 750 digital thermometers were distributed during the fall collection. The thermometer exchange will continue at the spring collection.
The county collected more than 200 pounds of mercury during its fall collection, about 100 pounds more than the spring collection. In addition, 102 pounds of fluorescent bulbs were collected as well as 26,094 pounds of household batteries.
“Out of the trunks of cars or the backs of pickups came fluorescent light bulbs, mercury switches, thermometers and in some cases containers, holding nothing but mercury,” Lacey said. “The thermometer exchange program was established to help get mercury out of the waste stream and to raise awareness that mercury is a problem.”
Since the Board of Freeholders implemented the household hazardous waste collection program 15 years ago, more than 11,200,000 pounds of material have been cleaned from homes and disposed of properly during the household hazardous waste program, according to a press release.
In addition, the county expects to collect about 750,000 pounds of paint through its paint management program this year.
Under the county paint management program, paint is collected six days a week at municipal recycling centers in Point Pleasant Beach, Dover and Lacey townships, along with the county’s Northern Recycling Center in Lakewood and the Southern Recycling Center in Stafford. Paint is collected Monday through Fridays at the public works garages in Seaside Park and Tuckerton.
Almost 3 million pounds of paint has been collected since the start of this program in 1997.