As spring turns into summer, some residents are working on moving, downsizing or are continuing to reduce the items in their homes. The Environmental office receives many phone calls about what to do with items that are no longer wanted or needed.
For those who have paint, stains, automotive care items, yard and garden chemicals or other chemicals such as cleaning chemicals, we have services to dispose of those items and most are free to the public!
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency assists operators of the area Household Hazardous Waste Facilities that are in Minnesota. Marshall serves as a regional facility. We are responsible for removing and transporting items from other southwest counties Household Hazardous Waste facilities and bringing it back to Marshall for processing as well as assisting residents in Lyon County who are disposing of their items. In Minnesota, every county has a Household Hazardous Waste Facility and there are a few regional satellite facilities.
A Household Hazardous Waste Facility is responsible for collecting, managing and properly disposing of certain wastes from households. There are some facilities that are licensed to take in hazardous waste from businesses who are considered very small generators. There are several steps to become a very small generator and business owners can access that information through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Businesses may pay a fee as well. It is important that if you have hazardous waste from a business that the responsible party in that business call ahead and talk to an employee before bringing any items to any facility. Businesses please be aware that you may be able to work directly with the companies that pick up from our facility.
Why does Minnesota have these facilities? We need to keep certain items out of the landfill and we need to protect our water systems. For those who may doing some deep cleaning, if you have items such as cleaner and have too much sitting at home, it is much better to focus on using it up or giving it away instead of throwing it away.
We also need to keep these same things from getting into our waterways. It may seem like most products are safe to use and they are. The problem is that if certain household chemicals are mixed together, the can cause chemical reactions which could potentially be unsafe.
We highly recommend to residents who are bringing items into the Household Hazardous Waste facilities to box up or use a tote for your products. Do not bag them up. We find quite often that bottles spill or leak and then products can potentially mix. This can cause a dangerous situation for not only you but for the staff as well.
We do offer some products for reuse on our shelves. The items and availability will greatly depend on how many residents come in to look for these items. We will often place paint that is still good on the shelf and it is free for the taking for any resident. We also carry some Styrofoam coolers and egg cartons for those who have a need for those items. Again, it depends on how many we get in and how many residents come in to look for these items. It is on a first come, first serve basis.
The Household Hazardous Waste facility serves as a collection point for shredded paper, for paper that needs to be shredded, car seats, rigid Styrofoam, mattress and box springs, hard covered books, Christmas lights and charging/computer cords, needles (sharps), electronics, cellphones, rechargeable batteries, and fluorescent light bulbs. Most of these items are free but for a few, there is a minor charge. We do not take appliances or medications. We can direct you to the appropriate place where these items can go. Needles (sharps) are required to be in a proper sharps container.
We would like to encourage residents to bring in unwanted items at the very least, quarterly, because we receive so much from the public and we have restricted space to keep it all until it is shipped out. Items received, depending on what they are, may be shipped on to another company for recycling or incineration. It depends on what the item is and that is how it is determined how it is handled after disposal.
For more information on waste disposal, recycling or waste reduction, please call the Lyon County Environmental Department at (507) 532-8210 or go to www.lyonco.org.
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