Why not all waste should go in your curbside bin

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) -The Lexington Division of Waste Management collected Household Hazardous waste this weekend, with over 1100 cars stopping by Old Frankfort Pike to drop off chemicals and items that can’t be put in your regular garbage pickup.

And while this might appear to just be a regular trash collection – the impact stretches a little beyond your basic garbage bin.

Lauren Monahan, an Environmental Initiative Specialist for the Division of Waste Management shared that, “The more you can recycle the more you can divert away from huge landfills – it really makes a huge impact,” she continues “Even if they end up in a landfill, there is groundwater that is circulating, and we don’t want those chemicals to enter the groundwater system at all.”

The event is one of 2 that Fayette county hosts a year, in an attempt to prevent harmful chemicals from waste entering our landfills and eventually groundwater.

“We want it to be taken by a professional company. They will re-blend and recycle most of the chemicals – so its not going in the ground, its not effecting our water system at all. Its definitely the best way to handle any hazardous waste that you have got.”

The Kentucky Division of Waste Management reports that there are 12 permitted Hazardous Waste Facilities in Kentucky -with more than 1,500 generators of hazardous waste statewide. Proper disposal of items like acetone, brake fluid and gasoline, even paint thinner can make a huge lasting impact on the health of Kentucky’s environment as a whole

“There are so many little things that each resident in Lexington can do day in and day out. Coming to annual or biannual events such as this Hazardous Waste collection, deciding to reduce reuse recycle at home, to participate in the curbside recycling program or the yard waste program – all of these programs help divert the overall tonnage that we are sending to a landfill”

And just because the event is over doesn’t mean you don’t have places to dispose of your Household Hazardous Waste – for a list of items and ways to safely dispose of your potentially hazardous trash, visit their website at : https://www.lexingtonky.gov/household-hazardous-waste