Household Hazardous Waste To Be Collected In Champaign

It’s been six years since Champaign-Urbana hosted one of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency's collection events for household hazardous waste. And organizers are expecting a big turnout for the event which takes place on Saturday, September 29th, on the north end of Champaign.

Urbana Recycling Coordinator Courtney Rushforth says all of the materials they’ll be accepting could be thrown away with the trash, without breaking state or local law. But she says items collected at the event will be disposed of in an environmentally responsible matter.

"We’re taking everything from pharmaceuticals to propane tanks to pesticides and chemicals, to old gasoline, bulbs, batteries, household batteries, lead-acid batteries", said Rushforth. "So there’s a lot of materials that we are accepting at this event."

Herbicides and pesticides, swimming pool chemicals, devices containing mercury, old medicines and fluorescent light tubes will also be accepted. Oil-based paint will be taken, but not latex paint.

The collection event runs from 8 AM until 3 PM on September 29th at the News-Gazette Distribution Center on Apollo Drive --- near the intersection of Market Street and Olympian Drive in Champaign.