2007 Waste Round-up Event

Saturday, November 10, 2007

8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Public Works Service Center, Athens

The City of Athens and Keep McMinn Beautiful would like to announce the first annual "Waste Round-up Event." This will be an ongoing annual event for residents of McMinn County intended to provide an opportunity to safely dispose of junk electronics, batteries and old paint.

The 2007 Athens Waste Round-Up will be held in the parking lot of the Public Works Service Center, located at 219 Alford Street in Athens. The Public Works Service Center is located approximately 1.3 miles south of the McMinn County Courthouse, off of S. White Street / HWY 30 towards Etowah. The Alford Street intersection is also the New Englewood Road / HWY 39 intersection.

The Round-Up will begin at 8:00 a.m. Waste items will be accepted until 1:00 p.m.

Items to be accepted include:

Batteries (Alkaline and Rechargeable)
Cellular Phones
Motor Oil
Paint (Latex and Oil-Based)
Computers and Related Components
Televisions
Air Conditioners

At this event, we will Not be able to accept hazardous common household chemicals
such as:

Paint Thinner
Lacquers
Cleaning Products
Epoxy
Brake Fluid
Carburetor Cleaner
Bleach
Oven Cleaner
Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Ammonia
Antibacterial Products or Disinfectants

Containers for Recyclable Materials will be sponsored by:

Clean Harbors
Seaton Enterprise
Scott Recycling
McClean Fuels

The City of Athens, Keep McMinn Beautiful and the sponsors highly encourage all citizens to take full advantage of this once a year event.
Working together, we can make positive and dramatic changes in our
corner of the world.

Update:

The 2007 Waste Round-Up Was A Great Success!

This is how our event compared to the state's event:

State Household Hazardous Waste Event	Athens Waste Round-Up
254 Participants	261 Participants
21,403 total pounds collected	20,350 total pounds collected
3,000 to 4,000 pounds electronics	12,464 pounds electronics
? pounds paint	6,320 pounds paint
? gallons oil	104 gallons or 832 pounds of oil
? gallons antifreeze	18 gallons or 144 pounds anitfreeze
1 pallet car batteries	1 pallet or 13 car batteries at appx. 390 pounds
? non-rechargeable batteries	21/2 5-gallon buckets (appx. 150 pounds) non-rechargeable batteries
? rechargeable batteries	50 pounds rechargeable batteries

 

We had an extremely successful event that will have a great impact on the environment. We picked up a record amount of E-Waste according to Scott Recycling. Clean Harbors helped us remove over 6,000 lbs of oil and latex paint from the waste stream, and we collected oil, antifreeze, and batteries that placed us within 1,000 lbs of matching a full Household Hazardous Waste Event.

This event was a great example of what a community working together can accomplish. Between KMB board volunteers coming out to work the event with smiles on their faces, the media getting the word out, and state, local, and county governments working with private waste handlers, this event was set up for success. Another success of this event is the cost. This event cost the State $12,548.36 last year, but we did it for less than $1,000.

We also gave out information on protecting water resources.