MRPC News Release
March 9, 2006
For immediate release
For more information, contact:
Bonnie Prigge or Tammy Snodgrass, (573) 265-2993
MARK YOUR CALENDAR! WASTE TIRE, APPLIANCE
COLLECTION
APRIL 1 AT COUNTY ROAD SHEDS IN BRINKTOWN, LANE PRAIRIE
MRPC, Solid Waste District, Maries County partner together to provide service
Do you have an old refrigerator or broken-down washer on the back porch or in the back yard? Do you have old tires beside the garage? Wondering what to do with them? There’s finally an answer.
Meramec Regional Planning Commission, in partnership with the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District and the Maries County Commission and road departments, will offer an appliance and waste tire collection from 9 a.m to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 1 at the county road department sheds. The First District shed is located on Highway N at Brinktown and the Second District Shed is located on Highway 28, near the junction of Highway Z at Lanes Prairie.
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: Passenger tires will be $1.50 each; truck tires will be $7.50 each; and tractor tires will be $12 each. You must unload the items yourself.
“This is a one-time collection of tires and appliances in the region and Maries County, so now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity,” explained Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC’s environmental programs manager, who is assisting with the planning of the event. This is the first time that the county has offered an appliance and tire collection.
“We hope that Maries County residents will take the opportunity to clean up old tires and appliances,” Snodgrass said. “Abandoned tires collect water and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which can carry the West Nile disease. Old appliances—especially refrigerators and freezers—can also be dangerous because children like to play in them and can easily be trapped and suffocate.”
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. Using its tipping fee dollars, the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste District provided a grant to MRPC to host the collection.
MRPC is working with a scrap dealer in the region to properly handle appliances, and tires will be recycled into tire-derived fuel.
The solid waste management district will also have educational information available at the collection that will help residents deal with other types of waste, including household hazardous waste.
Area residents that have questions about the collection can contact Snodgrass at (573) 265-2993 or by email at tsnodgrass@meramecregion.org.