Farmington Hills Helps Reduce Hazardous Waste in Communities

Saturday's annual hazardous waste collection, hosted by Resource Recovery and Recycling Authority of Southwest Oakland County (R.R.R.A.S.O.C.) and Environmental Recycling Group in a parking lot at campus, was expected to take in close to 100,000 pounds of household hazardous materials for proper disposal.

“They bring in old herbicides, pesticides, paints, glues, gasoline, motor oil, batteries, florescent lamps, mercury devices; just about everything that doesn’t belong in a typical landfill, or something you don’t want flushed down a drain for the municipal water treatment facility to deal with,” Edward Dawkins, Vice President of Environmental Recycling Group, said.

Throwing items away means losing the valuable portion of the materials that can be reused, he added. Recycling and proper disposal of hazardous materials not only cuts down on the amount of waste going into landfills, but protects local water systems as well.

“For decades, people have been told to flush their excess medications down the toilet," Dawkins said. "They end up in the water supply, and then flushed out into the Great Lakes. What is this doing to our eco-system? Even in parts per trillion, you can expect that there are some effects that go in there. What this does, it keeps it out of that flow.”

Community participation is important in the success of collecting the hazardous waste to be properly disposed. Susan Johnson, a Farmington Hills resident, comes to the drop off every year and appreciates the service.

“I’ve become more ecologically responsible lately,” Johnson said. ”I find my garbage at home has decreased probably in half because I’m putting much more paper and plastic in recycling, and I feel it’s more important to get rid of our hazardous waste and our recyclable items by bringing them here.”

Mark London, of Farmington Hills, also believes in the importance of recycling and has been to the event in the past.

“I believe we should recycle things appropriately,” London said. “There are some chemicals in batteries and electronics that shouldn’t go into landfills. They don’t break down well and we can make better use of them if we recycle them properly.”

London also took advantage of another free service provided at the drop off; document shredding.

“I’ve been carrying around a bag that I wanted to shred, but I keep forgetting to do it, and it was here and they’re doing it, so it worked out great,” London said.

The event’s turnout was successful, but also expected. Dawkins said Farmington Hills city leaders work hard to get word out to residents.

“They’re on top of it. The city really takes advantage of the programs that they put on; they really do participate,” Dawkins said.