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First Gwinnett County Household Hazardous Waste Collection event of 2023 set for Feb. 11


Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day The items that people can drop off during the event on Feb. 11 include: Aerosol/spray pesticides Automotive products (engine degreaser, brake fluid, transmission fluid, antifreeze, etc.) Cleaners, corrosives, spot removers, acids and bases Aerosol/spray paint Auto batteries Batteries (household and rechargeable) Chlorinated solvents Cooking oil and grease Fire extinguishers Flammables (lighter fluid and waste fuels (kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel, etc.) Fluorescent bulbs and ballasts Insecticides Latex and water-based paints Lawn care products Mercury Mercury salts and elemental mercury thermometers Oil based paint and stains Oxidizers Pesticides Poisons Propane cylinders Solvents and varnishes Thermostats and other mercury containing items Thinners and paint strippers Weed killer Wood preservatives

Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful and the Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources will hold the first Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day of 2023 next week, giving county residents an opportunity to safely dispose of household waste items that is dangerous and requires careful handling.

The collection day will be held from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the Gwinnett County Fairgrounds, which is located at 2405 Sugarloaf Pkwy in Lawrenceville. Residents will be able to bring hazardous household waste items to the fairgrounds and drop them off for free during the event.

“To help ensure a smooth event, we’re seeking an additional 50 volunteers,” Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful Executive Director Schelly Marlatt said. “We only have a four-hour window to collect materials from hundreds of cars, so this is a ‘the more, the merrier’ scenario. It’s a great opportunity to spend some time outdoors, meet other people who have a heart for the environment, fulfill volunteer hours for school and club commitments, and do something good for the community.

“Volunteers will help direct traffic, be assigned a station to help haul materials from vehicles, break down boxes and more. It’s easy but rewarding work.”

During the biannual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days in 2022, 161,874 pounds of hazardous materials were dropped off by 1,422 Gwinnett residents. Those materials were diverted from ending up in landfills because of the events.

The long list of materials that people can drop off during the Feb. 11 event, ranging from automotive fluids, auto batteries, pesticides, and cooking oil and grease to mercury, paint strippers, cleaners, spray paint, and flammable fluids.

“When people throw household hazardous materials in the trash, they will wind up in the landfill and could leech into the soil — contaminating groundwater and the environment,” Marlatt said. “The dangerous combination of some of those materials during the disposal process could even lead to a chemical reaction resulting in a fire or explosion. It might not seem like it at the moment when our volunteers are collecting items from the trunks and backseats of our attendees’ cars, but we’re saving the planet — one pesticide, paint can and propane cylinder at a time.”

Residents will be allowed to being up to five containers of household waste during the Feb. 11 event, and those containers must be the size of copy paper boxes or laundry baskets. The containers will not be returned to residents vehicles so people who drop off items are urged to use disposable containers.

There are several items that will not be accepted during the collection event. These include tires, electronics, paper for shredding, ammunition, radioactive waste, pharmaceuticals, and biomedical/biohazard waste.

“While we traditionally collect items like tires, electronics and paper for shredding at other annual recycling events like Earth Day and America Recycles Day, we will not have the capacity to accept those items at our Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day,” Marlatt said. “We don’t want to have any disappointed attendees on Feb. 11, so we ask that our neighbors carefully review the list of accepted items before they head to Gwinnett County Fairgrounds. Just hold on to those tires, electronic and paper, then make plans to join us for our Earth Day Recycling Event at Coolray Field on April 22.”

Anyone who would like to volunteer to help with the collection event can sign up at Volunteer Gwinnett’s website, which can be found at bit.ly/3jjXtmU. Volunteers are asked to arrive by 8 a.m. on the day of the event.