Household Hazardous Waste and Shredding Event at SRPMIC

By Chris Picciuolo

On October 23, the Household Hazardous Waste and Shredding event was held at the North Two Waters Complex parking lot in the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, as part of the 2021 Virtual Fall Overhaul event.

Household Hazardous Waste and Shredding Event at SRPMIC — Staff taking hazardous waste items from a vehicle.

Waste was dropped off by 147 cars, and staff from the Community Development Department’s Environmental Protection and Natural Resources collected hazardous waste from 51 homes of seniors and those with disabilities.

In total, 5,645 pounds of hazardous waste was prevented from entering the landfill and 5,000 pounds of paper were shredded and sent for recycling.

American Shredding was on hand to shred paper with their large truck on-site. The shredded paper goes with the truck to their facility and is eventually hauled to a paper recycling facility. American Shredding will be back in the Community for the Earth Day event on April 23, 2022, which CDD hopes will be an in-person event.

“All of the waste is transported to a permitted hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal facility (TSDF), but management of the waste depends on the type of waste,” said CDD/EPNR Environmental Specialist Carol Hibbard.

“Examples of hazardous waste collected include used oil, antifreeze and latex paints, which are recycled. Mercury is recovered from fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent bulbs and is reused to make new bulbs. Medical sharps are autoclaved (a process that sterilizes the biohazardous waste), compacted, and then either landfilled or sent to a waste-to-energy facility. Propane cylinders are emptied, cleaned and repurposed, while flammable liquids are either sent to a waste-to-energy facility or solidified for disposal.”

On October 22, which was Fall Overhaul Friday, about 40 participants worked on home projects and annual projects such as standpipe painting, garden box assembly for Community seniors and litter cleanup at River People Health Center.

As participants exited, 200 starter trees were given away: about 160 velvet mesquites and 40 foothills palo verde trees.