HAZARDOUS WASTE CAN BE DROPPED OFF SATURDAY

Pam Sander is prepared to recycle as much of the hazardous wastes as possible that Cape Girardeau residents bring to Arena Park Saturday.

For the second consecutive year, Cape Girardeau will offer a household hazardous waste collection for its residents. Residents can drop off the waste from 8 a.m. to noon at the 4-H Shelter at the park. The collection is offered for residential customers only.

Last year more than 400 people poured into the park to recycle everything from antifreeze to lighter fluid and paint thinners.

A year ago, many of the people in line who arrived after 10:30 a.m. weren't able to recycle their household waste. The city held another collection day because there was such a great interest.

Before that it had been eight years since the city offered such a collection for residents.

This year the city is prepared to handle the waste from every person who gets in line before noon, Sander said.

For the first collection day last year, the city was operating with funds from a $6,000 grant and had only contracted with Safety-Kleen Corp., for an allotted amount of time.

This year the city is not bound by the grant restraints, but will use funds from its budget to pay the expense of collecting and disposing of the wastes, Sander said. Part of the increase in solid waste fees will fund the collection day.

Safety-Kleen Corp. has outlets for recycling or disposing of most every possible household hazardous waste. The majority of items are recycled, Sander said.

Nothing has been rejected yet, Sander said, but there are some unacceptable items like fire extinguishers, batteries, tires and smoke detectors.

Since the collection is for residential customers only, there aren't a lot of things that are unacceptable. If the event were for commercial solid waste customers, that might be different, she said.

What you can take

Here is a list of acceptable items for collection:

-- Adhesive

-- Antifreeze

-- Artist paint

-- Auto wax

-- Brake fluid

-- Brush cleaner

-- Carburetor cleaner

-- Correction fluid

-- Cutting oil

-- Degreaser

-- Fuel additives

-- Furniture stripper

-- Furniture wax/polish

-- Gasoline

-- Glue with no solvents

-- Gun cleaning solvents

-- Kerosene

-- Lighter fluid

-- Linseed oil

-- Mineral spirits

-- Nail polish

-- Paint. Latex paint in a solid form can be disposed of in normal trash taken to landfills. It must be dry and solid.

-- Paint thinner

-- Photo chemicals

-- Primer

-- Roofing tar

-- Rubbing alcohol

-- Rug and upholstery cleaner

-- Shoe polish

-- Solvents

-- Spot cleaner and remover

-- Transmission fluid

-- Turpentine

-- Used oil (5 gallon maximum)

-- Used oil filters

-- Varnish

-- Aerosols containing above materials

-- Acids

-- Alkalis

-- Fluorescent light bulbs

-- Isocyanates

-- Oxidizers

-- Paint remover

-- Pesticides and herbicides

For more information, contact the Public Works Department at 334-9151.