Sioux Falls, SD (KELO AM) - 2015 was a record-breaking year for the City of Sioux Falls Household Hazardous Waste Facility. In total, more than 2.2 million pounds of material was accepted at the facility, up almost 200,000 pounds from 2014.
The Household Hazardous Waste Facility is a permanent drive-through drop-off location that allows residents of a five-county region (Lake, Lincoln, McCook, Minnehaha, and Turner Counties) to properly dispose of unwanted hazardous and electronic materials for free. The materials collected are sorted by a specialist and placed into various reuse, recycling, or hazardous materials disposal categories. Many of the materials accepted at the facility are banned from the landfill. Having the Household Hazardous Waste Facility allows residents options to dispose of these materials in an environmentally sound way.
2015 by the Numbers:
- · 188,996 pounds of hazardous waste reused, up 18 percent from 2014
- · 499,049 pounds of hazardous waste recycled, up 24 percent from 2014
- · 1,506,649 pounds of electronic waste recycled, up 1.6 percent from 2014
- · 28,313 facility visits, up 4 percent from 2014
Common items accepted at the facility include electronics such as TVs, computers, and cell phones; household chemicals such as paint, degreasers, and cleaners; yard chemicals such as pesticides, fertilizers, and insect repellent; and automotive chemicals such as antifreeze, motor oil, and brake fluid. While much of the material gets recycled by the facility’s contractor, staff members try to find other innovative ways to reuse the material in order to save on disposal costs. One example is the use of latex paint as landfill cover.
“The Sioux Falls Regional Sanitary Landfill is required to cover the garbage at the end of each working day. We purchase a product called Posi-Shell to cover the garbage but can also add latex paint into the mixture. Using the latex paint allows us to add less Posi-Shell and saved the Landfill approximately $9,000 in 2015. The Household Hazardous Waste Facility is fully funded by the tipping fees that are received at the Landfill. By using the waste latex in our alternative daily cover mixture, we also save approximately $5,000 that would otherwise be needed to dispose of the latex paint,” states Sanitary Landfill Superintendent Dustin Hansen.
During the winter months, staff uses motor oil to heat the facility. In 2015, more than 7,504 gallons of oil were used to heat the facility, which helps saves taxpayer dollars on overhead expenses to keep the facility running. Because of this, the public is especially encouraged to bring in their used or unwanted motor oil.
The Household Hazardous Waste Facility and Reuse Room are open Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 12 noon (closed Sundays and Mondays). Visit www.siouxfalls.org/hhwf or call the Environmental Center at 605-367-8276 for more information.