King County's Wastemobile travels to Des Moines

Residents can properly dispose of household hazardous materials, March 9–11

Anyone who keeps a garden, owns a home or car, enjoys a backyard barbeque or builds model airplanes has hazardous products that are too dangerous to throw away with the household trash. King County residents can safely and easily dispose of these items by taking them to the King County Wastemobile, March 9-11, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Des Moines Marina.

The Wastemobile will set up shop in the marina's north parking lot, at 22307 Dock St. Trained waste-management staff will safely remove the hazardous items from all vehicles. The service is free for residents.

"By giving King County residents a convenient opportunity to dispose of these materials we can insure that they won't end up in landfills," said Alexandra Thompson, Project Manager for King County's Solid Waste Division. "Our goal is to make proper disposal of hazardous materials easy to do so that residents can incorporate these practices into their everyday routines."

The Wastemobile is operated by King County as part of the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program. Acceptable materials include pesticides, oil-based paint products, propane tanks, automotive products (oil, antifreeze, auto batteries, etc.) and fluorescent bulbs/ballasts.

Created in 1989, the Wastemobile was the first program of its kind in the nation. In its first 17 years in operation, the program collected 14,771 tons of household hazardous waste from 325,060 customers.

In its 26 collection events last year, the Wastemobile served over 18,000 King County residents, collecting an average of 110 pounds of hazardous waste per customer, for a total of 1,000 tons.

All materials collected by the Wastemobile are either properly disposed of in a hazardous waste facility or treated for recycling. For example, oil-based paints, solvents and thinners are blended into a fuel mixture for use at facilities such as cement kilns, while used motor oil is re-refined into new lubricating products or reused as fuel for ships and cement kilns.

For more information, including schedules, acceptable materials and quantity limits, call the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program's Household Hazards Line at 206-296-4692, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., except holidays. Recorded information is available after hours. Information is also available online at www.govlink.org/hazwaste/house/disposal/wastemobile/index.html.

Para la información detallada acerca de este servicio o para dejar algún recado en español, por favor llame por el teléfono: 206-296-4692, marque 2.