Over 450 people took part in the Regional District of East Kootenay’s (RDEK) Household Hazardous Waste Round Ups around the region over the weekend.

“It was great to see the participation in the event and even better to know that we were able to get some of these toxic materials out of people’s basements and off for proper disposal and recycling,” says RDEK Communications Manager, Loree Duczek. “From a jar of mercury that had been kicking around since the mid ‘60s to more common paints and household cleaners, we had a steady stream of people dropping off items over the weekend.”

Round Ups were held in Fernie and Invermere on Saturday and in Cranbrook on Sunday.

“We had about 100 people at both Invermere and Fernie, and closer to 300 in Cranbrook,” says Duczek. “These events take an incredible amount of organizing and we could not have done it without the assistance of Newalta’s team of hazardous waste experts and Product Care.”

This is the first time the Household Hazardous Waste Round Ups have been organized by the RDEK.

“The goal in having a Round Up like this is to provide people with an option to get rid of those wastes that they can’t safely dispose of any other way,” explains Duczek. “While we did get some of those wastes coming in, we did notice a tremendous amount of paint and oil being brought in, both of which have year round depots available in all three subregions (Columbia Valley, Central and Elk Valley). We will use that observation to help direct some of our education messaging to raise awareness about those year-round recycling options through the Provincial Stewardship Programs we have in the East Kootenay.”

The RDEK expects to have a summary of the waste types and volumes collected at all three sites by early next week.

RDEK

Article Share