|
Search
This week's
featured blog: Choking on Wrapping Paper
The complete
blog guide: |
Published on February 04, 2009
Taking the Trash All the Way Out
Do you know where and how to dispose of your trash?
 Residents dump their trash at the Los Reales Landfill in Tucson, Ariz., on Feb. 9. Photo by Brian Greer Doing your part in throwing away trash can go a long way in helping keep the environment cleaner and safer, and it is fairly simple if you know what you can throw away and where. More and more people recycle, but fewer may be aware that disposing of hazardous materials properly can have a greater effect on the environment. Improper disposal of certain hazardous materials can lead to elevated air pollution and groundwater contamination, and can affect the ability to treat wastewater. It also affects landfill operators’ ability to conserve valuable space to dispose of trash over time. There are a combined 13 landfills, transfer stations and household hazardous waste disposal sites in Pima County, operated by either the county or the City of Tucson. Marana resident Adam Hastings says he goes to the landfill about every other month. Hastings, 24, is an EMT for Rural Metro. According to Hastings, he had been going to the dump even more frequently when he and his wife were doing some work on their house. “I use (Tangerine Landfill) because it’s just a lot closer to where I live, so it’s more convenient for me,” Hastings said. Hastings may be a frequent visitor to the Tangerine Landfill, but he doesn’t know specifically about the numerous other sites around Tucson. Most people don’t. “I couldn’t name them, but I do know there are some other ones,” Hastings said. “I think there also might be smaller places that you can take other things like solvents and paint or motor oil, but I’m not sure.” Household Hazardous Waste Program
Some landfill officials aren’t sure if people know this information, or maybe just choose to ignore it. “I think that people know. It’s more of a matter of how conscious they are about it,” Pima County Solid Waste Division, Program Coordinator Judy Tovar said. “But I guess there are people who probably don’t know everything that they aren’t supposed to throw away.” While some landfills and transfer stations have ABOP (antifreeze, battery, oil and paint) sites at their locations, there are other sites designated for the proper disposal of household hazardous waste items. There are currently four household hazardous waste disposal sites in the Tucson area: HHW’s permanent site, 2440 W. Sweetwater Drive and three satellite locations.  These are some of the household items that need to be properly disposed of. Photo by Brian Greer According to Household Hazardous Waste Program Coordinator, Frank Bonillas, these sites are monitored by technicians and volunteers who have been trained to properly dispose of the hazardous items.
Bonillas emphasized that most of the sites are open on weekends only and that the sites do not charge a fee, whereas there is a charge to take hazardous waste items to landfills. “We try and encourage the public to dispose of these items properly,” Bonillas said “we don’t want to scare them away with a fee.” Landfills and Transfer Stations  Martin Wolder, a Tucson, Ariz. resident, wheels his trash and recycling bins into the alley to be collected on Feb. 9. Photo by Brian Greer The two most popular and active landfills are the Los Reales Landfill and the county-operated Tangerine Road Regional Sanitary Landfill. The City of Tucson operates only the Los Reales Landfill, while the county operates four landfills and two transfer stations. The other two landfills in Pima County are owned and operated privately by The Fairfax Companies, LLC. (See the interactive map below for landfill locations and operators.) The Los Reales Landfill is where some residential curbside trash is dumped, the bulk of it is delivered to Maricopa County. According to Los Reales Landfill administrator Jim Mikolaitis, an average of 1,800 tons of trash is brought to the landfill each day by city sanitation workers and individuals. Picture the beds of 600 pickup trucks filled to the very top with gravel. And nearly 250,000 people use the landfill each year. The Tangerine Road Regional Sanitary Landfill is almost twice as busy as any other county-operated landfill, according to Tovar. “At Tangerine, for the month of December we received 4,500 tons and had 5,550 (residential) entries into the landfill,” Tovar said, close to average usage. |