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Community Corner

VIDEO: Residents Dump Chemical Waste at DHS Collection

Hundreds use drop-off spot to discard dangerous household items for free.

From aerosol products to prescription drugs, there's a long list of items you should never just throw in the trash. The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO) is making it easy for local residents to get rid of those products safely and, best of all, for free.

As part of their mobile collection program, SWALCO stopped at Saturday to let local residents drop off any household chemical waste products. The mobile events are held at various locations throughout Lake County from April-November and allow residents to avoid the hassle of having to make an appointment at SWALCO's permanent facility in Gurnee (1311 N Estes St). Deerfield High School has been a partner with SWALCO from the beginning.

"They're excellent to work with," household chemical waste engineer Steve Nelson said.  "I started the program 13 years ago and I think we've run an event here every year."

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SWALCO's mobile collection events are free for Illinois residents and you do not have to be a resident of the community in which it is being held. All you have to do is drop off your waste and SWALCO takes care of the rest.

"We seperate the material into hazard classes," Nelson said. "We determine if it's flammable, corrosive, or poison and then we have to package it according to Department of Transportation regulations and we ship it out for recycling."

Find out what's happening in Deerfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

SWALCO works in conjunction with Veolia Environmental Services to make sure everything is packaged correctly and delivered to the correct destination. Any paints, gas or adhesives that have a BTU value can be burned and used as a secondary fuel to supplement natural gas. Herbicides and poisons are taken to plants in St. Louis and Texas and incinerated while any oil and anti-freeze is generally re-refined, re-blended and ultimately recycled.

For a complete list of items that should be dropped off at the mobile events or permanent facilities, check out SWALCO's website.  You can also find information on the 30 yearly drop off dates.

Also, for more information on how much mobile events cost to put together and how they're funded, click on the video link above.

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