City of St. Joseph hosts hazardous waste collection event

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The City of St. Joseph held its annual Hazardous Waste Collection on Saturday, giving residents a safe and responsible way to dispose of common household hazardous materials.

On a brisk morning at MacArthur Drive, dozens of landfill and recycling workers helped collect hundreds of pounds of waste, which will be transported for proper disposal.

Items accepted included oil, cleaners, batteries, pesticides, paint, and other materials that cannot be disposed of through regular trash collection.

Organizers say this time of year is particularly important for such events, as severe weather can cause improperly stored hazardous items to blow away and end up in the environment, potentially harming wildlife and contaminating bodies of water.

"If the containers get knocked over, they're going to spill," explained Jason Hannemann, a landfill heavy equipment operator for the city. "They're going to soak into the ground, get into groundwater. It's going to potentially contaminate that. You also don't want these containers getting knocked over and mixing with each other, because some chemicals react badly with each other. They could cause fires or caustic fumes or anything like that, and you definitely don't want that."

Follow KQ2 and the City of St. Joseph for updates on more events like this to safely dispose of unwanted items around your home.