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Environment

Household Hazardous Material Collection

Rock Island County Waste Management Agency

Residents of the Illinois Quad Cities will be able to get rid of insecticides, anti-freeze, and other dangerous substances this weekend. The Illinois EPA and the Rock Island County Waste Management Agency will host a free, household hazardous material collection day on Saturday. 

Waste Management Agency coordinator, Sarah Gardner, says the collection will be held at the Rock Island County fairgrounds in East Moline - all you have to do is drive up, and workers for a state contractor will unload your car.

"It's a great opportunity to get that material out of your house. A lot of questions we get are what difference does it make taking it here or just holding on to it. These materials are the kinds of things you don't want your kids or pets getting into. Unfortunately some are corrosive and will eventually eat through their own containers. "

Oil-based paint can be turned in but latex and acrylic cannot - Gardner says those two are not hazardous and can be put in the trash once they've dried out.

The materials turned in will be sorted and then incinerated, and turned into energy, at a cement plant.

Gardner reminds local residents they don't have to wait for one of these collection days - the Waste Commission of Scott County can accept hazardous materials from Quad Cities area residents. 

The collection will be held on Saturday from 8 am until 3 pm. 

A native of Detroit, Herb Trix began his radio career as a country-western disc jockey in Roswell, New Mexico (“KRSY, your superkicker in the Pecos Valley”), in 1978. After a stint at an oldies station in Topeka, Kansas (imagine getting paid to play “Louie Louie” and “Great Balls of Fire”), he wormed his way into news, first in Topeka, and then in Freeport Illinois.