Hazardous waste collection Saturday

Old computers, TVs, paint, oil, etc. accepted

Keep Sevier Beautiful and the Tennessee Department of Environmental Conservation are sponsoring this year’s Sevier County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event on Saturday, April 29, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of Sevierville City Hall.
All Sevier County residents are invited to take containers of old paint, aerosol cans, pesticides, automobile fluids, pool chemicals, paint thinner, latex paint, oil, antifreeze, cleaners—virtually any type of hazardous household waste—to the community center this Saturday for proper disposal. You can bring in your old computers and televisions that you have hiding in your closets. Materials that are flammable, corrosive, reactive or toxic should not be thrown out with the trash.
“Even if you don’t know what’s in a container you find while you’re cleaning out the barn or garage-we’ll take it,” said Tom Leonard, Director of Sevier Solid Waste, Inc. Items such as latex paint, antifreeze and oil will be recycled.
Signs will direct traffic to the collection point and people will direct traffic to the collection point and people will be on hand to unload the materials. There is no charge for dropping off the materials, however, there will be some information collected for a survey. The questions include how far the participant drove to get to the drop-off site and the number of households the material came from, which will be used to determine participation in the hazardous waste collection.
This event helps to save the taxpayers money, because toxic fumes can and have been emitted from improperly disposed of chemicals. In 2002, the City of Sevierville paid $20,000 to a cleanup contractor who spent 12 hours checking out the cause of fumes which sickened three sanitation department workers.
As you are doing your spring cleaning, take your hazardous materials to the Household Hazardous Waste Event this weekend and help Keep Sevier Beautiful.