Illinois EPA Announces Fall 2021 Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events

SPRINGFIELD – Illinois EPA Director John J. Kim today announced the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collections for the fall of 2021. Illinois EPA provides residents with free HHW collection events to safely dispose of unused or leftover hazardous products commonly found in homes. As with past events, all Illinois EPA HHW collections are contactless for the safety of participants. Additional safety tips are included following the schedule below. Collection events are funded through the Illinois EPA’s Solid Waste Fund.

“Our Household Hazardous Waste collection events continue to be well attended by residents throughout Illinois and provide the public with no-cost collections of chemicals and other household wastes that often accumulate in our homes,” said Director Kim. “We are pleased to continue to offer these important events to assist residents in properly disposing of these potentially hazardous products to protect our environmental resources.”

Illinois EPA continues to work with eight HHW Hub Partners that are supplemented each year with other collections partners to thoroughly cover the state. The Hub Partners are the City of Bloomington, the City of Effingham, the City of Springfield, the City of Quincy, Champaign County, Jackson County, Peoria County, and Rock Island County. Champaign and Jackson Counties held events in the spring of 2021 and are scheduled to have events in the spring of 2022.

Each year, Illinois EPA coordinates with local municipalities to conduct these one-day collections. The first of these collections began in November 1989. Since then, over 406,085 households have participated in 458 events, with more than 79,640 drums of material collected.

One-day collections are open to all Illinois residents and operate from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on the day of the event. Residents participating in these events are encouraged to bring chemical cleaners, oil-based paints, thinners, antifreeze, motor oil, gasoline, kerosene, weed killers, insecticides and pesticides, old or outdated medication, and similar hazardous household products. Fluorescent and other high-intensity discharge lamps may also be brought to the collections. ITEMS NOT ACCEPTED include latex paint, explosives, propane tanks, fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, agricultural chemicals and business wastes.

A complete list of wastes that are and are not accepted is available online at https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/waste-management/waste-disposal/household-hazardous-waste/Pages/acceptable-wastes.aspx. The fall 2021 one-day collections are scheduled on Saturdays as follows:

*Note: All one-day collection events for fall 2021 require pre-registration. Additional contact information for events is provided below.

• East Moline: Questions - bmelton@bistateonline.org
• Peoria: Phone Appointments - 309-679-6156 (12-4 PM Monday – Friday); Questions - recycling@peoriacounty.org
• Bloomington: Phone Appointments - 309-468-6449; Questions - HHW@ecologyactioncenter.org
• Quincy: Questions - www.co.adams.il.us/health
• Effingham: Updated information will be provided online at https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/waste-management/waste-disposal/household-hazardous-waste/Pages/collections.aspx
• Springfield: Questions – 217-789-2255 ext. 5244; Adena.Rivas@Springfield.il.us

For safe transport of HHW, residents are asked to:

• Pack HHW items in a disposable box to avoid spilling during transport.
• Keep like chemicals together and separate unlike chemicals.
• Secure lids and make sure containers are not leaking.
• Place box(es) of HHW in empty trunk of your vehicle, away from passengers during transport.
• Remain in vehicle at collection site. On-site personnel will remove the HHW from your vehicle.

In addition to the one-day collections, the following long-term collection facilities are available for disposal of HHW throughout the year:

• Naperville, 156 Fort Hill Drive (immediately North of Naperville Public Works), DuPage County, www.naperville.il.us/hhw.aspx
Hours: Saturdays 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Sundays 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM, Phone: 630-420-6095
• Rockford, Rock River Reclamation District, 3333 Kishwaukee, Winnebago County
http://www.knib.org/recycling/green-guide/household-hazardous-waste-site/
Hours: Saturdays 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM, Sundays Noon – 4:00 PM, Phone: 815-987-5570
• Chicago, Goose Island, 1150 North Branch, Cook County www.cityofchicago.org/hccrf
Hours: Tuesdays 7:00 AM – Noon, Thursdays 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM, and
First Saturday of every month 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM, Phone: 312-744-3060
• Lake County, The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) currently operates a long-term household chemical waste collection program. Information and a collection schedule can be found on their website (www.swalco.org) or by calling 847-336-9340.

For questions concerning the Illinois EPA’s one-day or long-term collections, please contact Don Buis with the Illinois EPA Waste Reduction Unit at 217-785-4116. HHW collection schedules are also available on the Illinois EPA website at https://www2.illinois.gov/epa/topics/waste-management/waste-disposal/household-hazardous-waste/Pages/collections.aspx.

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