Local residents looking for an environmentally friendly way to dispose of their household hazardous waste must wait until October 6 to get rid of potentially harmful adhesives, pesticides and cleaners. The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority (RSWA) hosts only two "amnesty days" for the proper disposal of certain household hazardous waste at its Ivy Materials Utilization Center and the next one is six-and-a-half weeks away.
Here’s the big exception: You can legally dispose of all household hazardous waste in your garbage as long as all liquid items are in sealed containers—though RSWA officials don’t want to draw a lot of attention to that fact, and it sure isn’t very nice to the planet to do so.
Got hazardous waste? You have two options: Take it to a twice-yearly amnesty day (and feel right virtuous), or cap and toss it any old time (and feel like a jerk).
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The RSWA originally offered proper disposal of such waste products once a month from spring through fall. But budget concerns were among the reasons for the change, says Ivy Landfill Manager Mark Brownlee.
"It costs between $50,000 to $60,000 each [amnesty day]," says Brownlee, adding that New Jersey-based Care Environmental currently holds the contract to dispose of the waste during these events. "Whether that would diminish if you did it every month, I don’t know. We just can’t have that much extra expense in our budget."
Last year, the RSWA spent $90,545 of $95,000 budgeted for two such events. Director of Finance Lonny Wood notes that the ultimate cost of disposal depends on the amount of participation from the public, as Care Environmental charges by the kind and volume of waste discarded.
Though RSWA widely publicizes the two "amnesty days," a small sample of items commonly regarded as household hazardous waste can be properly disposed of daily at the Ivy dump, including antifreeze, motor oil, household batteries, fluorescent lights, and oil-based and latex paint. All other household hazardous waste—including adhesives, pesticides and household cleaners—can only be disposed of there on the "amnesty days."
Care Environmental has contracts with a number of localities in the Commonwealth, including Fauquier, Prince William and Loudon counties. A number of these localities with larger populations offer household hazardous waste disposal on a weekly basis, according to Care Environmental Office Manager Diane Cilenti.
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