The Thompson Nicola Regional District’s (TNRD) Household Hazardous Waste Round-Ups recently wrapped up across the region.
The overall success of the project means the TNRD is considering making them an annual event.
From May 7 to June 4, the TNRD hosted eight Round-Ups - in Clinton, Cache Creek, Ashcroft, Logan Lake, Chase, Barriere, Clearwater and Merritt. The events allowed residents to properly dispose of hazardous material that should not be dumped in a landfill.
“We had line-ups of cars at pretty much every event,” said Jamie Vieira, TNRD Environmental Health Services technologist. “People came from far and wide with a wide variety of materials to dispose of. So these events were definitely a success.”
The TNRD hired two contractors - Hazco and Newalta - to accept and process the material collected at the Round-Ups. There was also a number of product stewards who participated in the event including Encorp Pacific (electronics), Product Care (paint, pesticide, CFL bulbs) and the BC Used Oil Management Association.
All materials collected for the event were packaged in either 20 litre pails or 205 litre drums. In total 128 pails and 149 drums of household hazardous material were collected and properly disposed of.
“The feedback we got from the public was that they were very happy, and want us to make it an annual event, which is something we will definitely be looking into,” added Vieira.