If you have an old refrigerator or broken-down washer on the back porch, old tires beside the garage or an old television in the basement, October is the month to clean house.
The Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District, in partnership with Maries County Commission, the City of Cuba, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and Meramec Regional Planning Commission, will offer two electronics, appliance and waste tire collections in October. Collections are planned from:
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 3 at the Maries County Road Shed #2, on Highway 28 midways between Belle and Vichy.
• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sat., Oct. 17 at Hood Park on Hood Drive in Cuba.
Appliances—including stoves, refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, hot water heaters and other unwanted white goods—will be accepted free of charge.
Fees will be charged for tires, computer monitors and televisions: Passenger tires will be $1.50 each; truck tires will be $5 each; and tractor tires will be $10 each. The fee for televisions is $10 each and computer monitors are $5 each. Microwaves, CPUs, keyboards, printers, VCRs, cell phones and other electronics are accepted free of charge. You must unload the items yourself.
“These are one-time collection of tires, electronics and appliances, so now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity. Once again, we are combining our electronics collection with our appliance and waste tire collection, so we hope this gives residents an opportunity to properly dispose of more unwanted waste items—especially televisions,” explained Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC’s environmental programs manager.
Snodgrass pointed out that abandoned tires can collect water and serve as breeding grounds for mosquitoes. She added that refrigerators and freezers, sitting abandoned, can be dangerous because children like to play in them and can easily be trapped and suffocate.
“Now is the time to get rid of these unnecessary hazards,” said Snodgrass.
The collection is open to any households in the Ozark Rivers District, including Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties. The solid waste district is tasked with reducing by 40 percent the amount of waste generated for disposal.
The Ozark Rivers Solid Waste District and Missouri Department of Natural Resources are covering some of the collection costs.
Maries County and the City of Cuba are hosting the collections and providing manpower and equipment to assist on collection day. They will also help distribute flyers on the collections.
MRPC will be coordinating many of the logistics, such as contractors to haul away tires, appliances and electronics waste, providing lunch and drinks for volunteers, providing education materials and survey documents as well as publicity and advertising.
PSC Metals will properly handle appliances, and Missouri Vocational Enterprises will recycle the tires into tire-derived fuel. Computer Recycling Center of Springfield will recycle electronics.
Area residents that have questions about the collection can contact Nongluk Tunyavanich at (573) 265-2993 or by e-mail at nongluk@meramecregion.org.