This weekend the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) will be conducting the Household Hazardous Waste Round-up event in Revelstoke, to collect a backlog of hazardous household material.
“This is an opportunity for residents to get rid of materials that are toxic, corrosive, reactive or ignitable,” says waste reduction facilitator Carmen Fennell. “There are so many items that pose potential hazard to human health, such as antifreeze and adhesives, glues and pool chemicals.”
Residents can get rid of all these items, free of charge, for this one day. This event only happens once every two years, so this is the year for residents to clean their garage, basement, and shed, and get rid of any unwanted hazardous chemicals.
“The CSRD offers residents this opportunity because there are materials that can’t go into the landfill but need to be disposed of. Some products such as pesticides and herbicides are regulated through an Extended Producer Responsibility Program administered by Product Care,” says Fennell. “However, not every community has a Product Care depot, and not all products are accepted as part of the stewardship program, so the consumer is left wondering what to do with their non-conforming leftovers.”
The date for the Household Hazardous Waste Round-up in Revelstoke is Sunday, May 4.
The round-up will be managed by Newalta, a hazardous waste disposal company.
“The handling of these products must be done by trained staff to ensure safe packaging and transport of these potentially dangerous materials. Anyone who has leftover chemicals that require disposal is encouraged to bring them to the free collection. If you miss this event, you will have to hang on to your toxins till the next event in 2016," said Fennell.
For more information on this event, please visit the CSRD website at www.csrd.bc.ca, or send an email to operations@csrd.bc.ca.