Please wait...
Hazardous waste recycling day brings a line of cars filled with toxic trash to the Essex County Hazardous Waste Depot in Cedar Grove. Chris Black, a Local contributor, reflects on his removal of hazardous waste in an opinion post. Essex County held its annual hazardous waste collection day on Saturday, May 1, and I made the trek for the first time.
In past years, I had always found excuses not to make the 10-mile trip to the County Depot in Cedar Grove on the designated Saturday, where I imagined I would have to inch my way along a line of cars filled with toxic ooze, possibly having to explain the contents and origins of some my dusty containers, and maybe even having some of them rejected as unacceptable — then, what? But I have slowly accumulated a stock of insecticides, automotive additives, paint cans, motorcycle batteries, furniture strippers, thinners and solvents — most of which I wish I had never acquired, but have no simple, responsible way to get rid of.
As we become more conscious as a community of the need to reduce our impact on our environment, we find more ways to keep stuff out of landfills — recycling of plastic, metal and paper, looking for ways to generate less material to recycle by more thoughtful shopping, and by considering the disposal of an item at the time of purchase, such as composting food waste and garden clippings, the recycling of electronics, office consumables and batteries. In our household, we have gotten our trash pickup down to under two bags per week, but are stuck when it comes to hazardous materials. When I read in The about the county hazardous waste collection day, a mixture of curiosity and resignation induced me to pre-empt my scheduled stealth-pruning session, and head up with my two Tupperware bins of trouble and hand them off to the pros.
My worry was all for naught. We were directed into the depot by local police to one of several lines, where people asked us what town we were from, gave us a questionnaire, and directed us toward the unloading area. The lines moved quickly, as three or four gloved people converged on each car to remove its payload, while the driver remained behind the wheel. To the right was an array of drums, baskets, bins and pallets, into which the material was being sorted by what seemed like dozens of workers. “Do you want these bins back?” was the only question they asked as they lifted them out of the back. “No, thanks,” I said, and that was about it.
On the way out, I handed in my questionnaire, and received a cloth tote bag imprinted with the County logo and agency names. Total elapsed time — about eight minutes. On the trip home, I reflected on the efficiency of doing all the hazardous waste collection at one time and place, but wondered what would be the ultimate destination of some of those drums and bins. I was left with the resolve to generate less material that will require such handling, even as I was glad the county provides that channel to remove them from the waste stream.