Keeping it out of the landfill

MOSES LAKE — On a recent Saturday in late October, Joan Sieverkropp stood in the parking lot of the Grant County Public Works Department’s road service building on Wheeler Road asking people what kind of toxic chemicals they had in the backs of their cars.

And then taking those chemicals off their hands.

It’s something Sieverkropp, solid waste program coordinator for Grant County Solid Waste, does regularly at various locations across the county, including twice a year in Moses Lake.

“People can bring the hazardous waste that they’ve collected,” Sieverkropp said. “Sometimes people come yearly, it’s like a social event for some people.”

Saturday, Oct. 22, was the last household hazardous waste collection event in Grant County for 2022, and according to Sieverkropp, 129 vehicles came through to drop off everything from old paint to worn-out rechargeable batteries, paint thinner to antifreeze.

“The volume was a little smaller, but overall it was great participation,” she said.

The goal is to keep waste out of the county’s landfill, and liquids like motor oil and paint from contaminating the county’s groundwater.

The twice-yearly collections — events are held around the county, and not just in Moses Lake — allow residents to bring in the following item: aerosols, oil-based paint and stains, latex paint, adhesives, rechargeable batteries, lithium batteries, aerosols, paint thinners, household cleaners, corrosives, pesticides, herbicides, photo chemicals like developer and fixer, pool and spa chemicals, old gasoline, road flares, elemental mercury — thermometers and fluorescent lights — fire extinguishers, antifreeze, brake fluid and used motor oil.

Items not accepted on household hazardous waste collection days include automobile batteries, alkaline batteries, propane tanks, prescription medications, used intravenous needles, incandescent light bulbs, LED lights, ammunition, explosives empty containers, agricultural waste and commercial waste.

It isn’t just important to keep this waste out of landfills in order to ensure they don’t contaminate drinking water, Sieverkropp said. Many of these chemicals can pose risks to sanitation workers as they compress them in garbage trucks and haul them away. Household chemicals sitting around can also pose risks to humans and wildlife.

“Antifreeze smells sweet, and can be an attractive nuisance,” Sieverkropp said. “Some of this is just good housekeeping.”

Sieverkropp said Grant County Solid Waste contracts with Massachusetts-based environmental and industrial service provider Clean Harbors to take the waste, pack it into drums, and haul it away to be recycled or disposed of properly. Much of the paint is reused under a state paint recycling program, she added.

Brett Rodgers, communications director for Washington, D.C.-based PaintCare, a nonprofit established by American Coatings Association to lead the industry’s recycling efforts, said the organization arranges for latex paint to be reused as paint while most oil-based paints are eventually burned as fuel sources for cement kilns.

“Latex-based paint, that’s what most people use, is mostly recycled back into paint,” Rodgers said. “But each recycler is different. There are other uses, such as latex as a cement additive, or as gravel or landscape material when ground cover is needed. It’s pretty cool.”

Sieverkropp said there are also a number of locations across Grant County that will take household hazardous waste on a year-round basis. Most auto supply stores in the county will take used motor oil and old automobile batteries; Lowes, Home Depot and Staples will all take rechargeable batteries; and police departments in Ephrata, Moses Lake, Mattawa, Royal City, Grand Coulee, Warden, and Quincy will take old or expired prescription drugs.

The Grant County landfill south of Ephrata, as well as the drop-off box in Mattawa, the Delano Transfer Station in Coulee City, and the Consolidated Disposal Services transfer station north of Moses Lake will also take household hazardous waste year-round, Sieverkropp said.

“It’s definitely important to keep things out of the landfill,” she said.

For more information, contact Grant County Solid Waste at 509-754-6082 x3508 or the agency’s website https://bit.ly/3FIBmiQ.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.