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For more information, contact: Maries, Pulaski Solid Waste Collections
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Cities and counties within the Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District should be cleaner places, after three solid waste collections. The Maries County Commission hosted a collection Oct. 6 at the Lanes Prairie Road Shed. The Pulaksi County Commission hosted a collection Oct. 20 at the St. Robert Transfer Station. The city of Salem also hosted an electronics collection on Oct. 5-6. The Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District in partnership with local governments and Meramec Regional Planning Commission sponsored all collections.
When all events were over, some 638 tires of various sizes, 74 televisions, 51 monitors, 21 microwaves, 130 appliances and a wide array of other items had been delivered for recycling, said Tammy Snodgrass, MRPC’s environmental programs manager.
This was the first time that the solid waste district had combined its tire and appliance collection with its electronic waste collection. Snodgrass was pleased with the result.
“It gave residents an opportunity to recycle more items at one time instead of storing them for separate collections,” she noted. “It was more efficient. We accomplished in one day what usually took two days and had excellent participation.”
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Appliances—including stoves, refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, hot water heaters and other unwanted white goods—were accepted free of charge. A $5 fee was charged for each television, microwave and computer monitor, and a fee was charged for tires, ranging from $1.50 for passenger tires to $10 for tractor tires.
“We had to charge what it cost us to get rid of the tires,” explained Snodgrass.
Some 64 cars were served in Maries County on Oct. 6; 45 cars were served at St. Robert on Oct. 20, Snodgrass said.
Midwest Sales of Cuba hauled away over three tons of appliances from the Pulaski County collection to be recycled. Maries County handled its own white goods recycling effort.
“We are glad that area residents took the time and effort 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.”
Snodgrass thanked the local governments for hosting the collections.
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“The more items we can recycle, the fewer items get sent to landfills or dumped on our county roads,” she noted. Snodgrass commended the city of Salem and Mayor Gary Brown, who took the initiative to host a two-day electronics waste collection while the electronics waste recycler was in the area.
“We weren’t able to host a large collection in Salem this year, yet the mayor worked with us to offer a recycling opportunity to Dent County, and our contractor was able to pick up the items collected,” Snodgrass explained. “We thank him for going that extra mile.”
The Ozark Rivers District includes Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their cities. 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 used a grant to cover the costs of the collection, including staff time to coordinate the events and to advertise them.
Area residents that have questions about recycling can contact Snodgrass at (573) 265-2993 or by email at tsnodgrass at meramecregion.org.