Press Release - Friday, October 05, 2007
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Illinois EPA initiates collection of large trash items in Alexander County
Olive Branch—The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) and the Alexander County Highway Department today began collection of large trash items from residents of Alexander County and surrounding areas. The collection will finish tomorrow, Saturday, October 6th. The collection is located at the Highway Department's Olive Branch facility today from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and tomorrow from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The free clean up days are open to local residents who are encouraged to bring in any large items not normally picked up by their trash collector. Examples of items to bring include white goods, such as refrigerators, washers and dryers, and stoves; furniture, such as couches, chairs, and mattresses; and tires, both on and off the rim.
"The collections today and tomorrow are a way people can get rid of unwanted household items in an environmentally safe way, while keeping Southern Illinois beautiful," said Illinois EPA Director Scott. "Illegal open dumping around Illinois can potentially pose health and safety hazards to both people and the environment, and having a drop off point for people so they can get rid of their unwanted items is the best way to prevent festering dumps from beginning at all."
The two day trash collection is an offshoot of the IEPA's Illinois Removes Illegal Dumps (I-RID) program, which became law in 2005 to give the IEPA additional authority to combat open dumping and clean up existing dumps. This weekend, instead of cleaning up an existing dump, the IEPA and the Highway Department are aiming to stop illegal dumping before it occurs.
The I-RID program has conducted approximately 100 open dump cleanups throughout the state, in both rural and urban areas. Approximately 12,500 tons of solid waste has been collected and sent to regulated landfills for disposal, 500 tons of recyclable metal waste has been sent to salvage and recycling facilities and 300 tons of tires have been collected and recycled.
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