Fall E-CARE Disposal and Recycling Event Scheduled

Columns

by ARLnow.com September 15, 2011 at 12:15 pm 4,153 21 Comments

If it can’t be thrown out with the trash or picked up for normal recycling, chances are you’ll be able to get rid of it next month at Arlington’s “E-CARE” Environmental Collection and Recycling Event.

The biannual event is being held at Thomas Jefferson Middle School (125 S. Old Glebe Road) from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Residents will be able to drop off various types of large or hazardous items, including small metal items, computers, televisions, cell phones, other electronics, fluorescent bulbs and tubes, paint products, fuels and petroleum products, lawn and garden chemicals, poisons, pesticides, automotive fluids, car care products, propane gas cylinders, photographic chemicals, swimming pool chemicals, household cleaners, mercury, flammable solvents, fire extinguishers and corrosive materials.

There will also be a collection of gently used clothes, shoes, microwaves, mattresses, bed frames, eyeglasses and old bicycles. Most items will be donated to poor residents of Honduras, while the bikes and eyeglasses will be sent to unspecified overseas destinations.

The only items that are specifically banned are explosives, ammunition, freon, radioactive materials, prescription drugs, medical waste and asbestos. Also, smoking is prohibited while on-site.

See more information on the Arlington County E-CARE web site.

Overgrown Bush

Fantastic. I have some radioactive goo I need to get rid of from Mr. Fusion.
regular reader

There are some comments on ArlNow that are toxic and need special handling and disposal.
Arlington Native

Given the number of Arlington residents who can’t be bothered to put plastic/cans/bottles with recycling and trash only with trash, I wonder how much “hazardous material” ends up tossed in with the regular weekly garbage.
- Overgrown Bush
  
  I suspect it is a regular practice.
R.Griffon

Note you still have to pay to dispose of CRT monitors and TVs, if that’s your thing.

If you have such things and need to get rid of them, keep your eyes out. There are usually a few events a year in the area that will take them for free.

Or better yet, list hem in the “Free Stuff” section on Craigslist (assuming they still work).
- Overgrown Bush
  
  Unfortunately many of them end up in places like China and are handled like this, at the expense of the health of the workers. Electronic parts are collected, metals are sold for scrap, and boards are melted down to get the valuable metals (such as gold). The melting process is unregulated, toxic, and done by children very often.
MC 703

What harm can the 20 batteries that I throw into the garbage every year really do?
- Overgrown Bush
  
  Lay one of them in a pot of a houseplant and continue to water that plant normally. Over time, see what happens. Now, multiply your 20 batteries per year by the million or so people using a large landfill. Just think of what the landfill leachate must be like. Yes, it is treatet. But, do you think the landfill liner will last forever? Not likely.
  - MC 703
    
    Roger that OB. I was sardonically pointing out the thinking of probably 85% of people out there who throw batteries in the trash can without even thinking. It’s the scale of things that does the damage.
    
    Just like my step Dad who to this day changes his own oil and then throws the used motor oil in the trash can to my amazement.
    - Overgrown Bush
      
      Wow! You should ride your step-Dad on that issue. It isn’t difficult to pour it into a container. A lot of places accept oil drop-offs. In fact, as bad as some like to paint big box stores, some of them take used oil I believe.
- drax
  
  Actually, most common household batteries no longer contain mercury or other really nasty stuff so they’re okay to throw in the regular trash.
  - Overgrown Bush
    
    You are partially right. No mercury or lead anymore in alkaline batteries. I think it has been replaced with zinc and manganese. However there is potassium hydroxide, a caustic agent, that is the electrolyte. pH issues from battery leaching is primarily the concern in high quantities. Some entities do not require alkaline battery recycling, and some mandate it. Certainly, the metals can be recovered for recycle and not use up space in a landfill or contribute to a higher pH landfill leachate.
    
    There are greater concerns with lithium-ion batteries, which are now getting all over the place. Button batteries, cell batteries, etc.
    - Ray
      
      Arlington County suggests you throw out standard household batteries with the regular garbage now.
      - Overgrown Bush
        
        Not surprising. Arlington doesn’t have a landfill, so why take on the recycling cost and effort for them? Other local entities who have landfills (Fairfax, PW, etc.) require recycling of batteries I believe. Here in Arlington we just pave everything over with concrete and steel and create a facade of green just as much as attempting to do all the right things.
      - drax
        
        Really?
        
        Where do you think Arlington sends its trash? Do you think that’s free too? Do you think recycling doesn’t produce any revenue? Do you think batteries actually would make a dent in all that?
        
        Are you really this desperate to crazy reasons to bash the County?
      - I-CARE
        
        Why not check the facts before you spout an uninformed opinion? Rechargeable batteries with hazardous materials like Ni-Cad, Li-Ion, Nickel Metal Hydride, or Lead should definitely be recycled. You can recycle them at the County’s Household Haz-Mat center or through other private programs. Trying to recycle the non-hazardous alkaline batteries wastes more energy and creates more harmful pollution than sending them to the Waste-To-Energy facility with the rest of your trash. Once they lose their charge, the little caustic material still left helps to neutralize the harmful acid products that people throw away instead of recycling at the Household Haz-Mat facility or at the E-CARE.
      - I-CARE
        
        Responding to O-Bush!
    - drax
      
      Thanks for the update. We recycle our lithium-ions btw.
      - BlueSkies
        
        Here’s what the county says about alkaline battery disposal – put them in the trash or recycle them:
        http://bit.ly/rd3j35
        
        Our trash is burned, so then the question becomes what burning batteries does to the air – although Overgrown Bush, I like your houseplant example.
- R.Griffon
  
  Rechargeables for the win! I use Eneloops and love ’em, but I’m sure that most major brands would give you similar performance. And just think – if you only used them 10 times (highly unlikely as I’ve been using mine for YEARS), you’d cut your waste by 90%! And it only grows after that (probably closer to 99% or so).
  
  They also come with sleeves so that you can use the AA’s in C and D applications. Works like a champ!
  - Googla
    
    Eneloops are great. I use them in my speedlights.

Subscribe to our mailing list