FLOYD MITCHELL CHICKASAW 
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Household Hazardous Waste

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The Household Hazardous Waste satellite facilities in Osage, Charles City, and New Hampton are now closed until May 2009. You can bring your HHW to the landfill though, Monday through Friday, from 7am - 3pm. Call 877-982-4288 for details. More info below.

Floyd•Mitchell•Chickasaw•Howard•Winneshiek

Regional Collection Center
for Household Hazardous Waste

NEWS!  

You may bring your HOUSEHOLD hazardous waste to the landfill's new Regional Collection Center year-round!

Howard County residents may now dispose of Household Hazardous Waste at no charge. There will be a charge for farm and business hazardous waste.  This new program does NOT include solid waste (garbage, construction & demolition debris, etc.), which must continue to go to the Winneshiek County Landfill. This program for Howard County is made possible by the Floyd-Mitchell-Chickasaw Landfill,  with assistance from the Howard County Supervisors, Howard County Recycling Coordinator Craig Fencl, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  Mobile Collections coming to Cresco this fall.

Winneshiek County and businesses and residents may also use our facilities for disposal of Household Hazardous Waste either at our Regional Collection Center or via our Mobile Collection Unit which will come to Decorah this fall.  Watch your paper for details. This service was made possible with assistance from the Winneshiek County Landfill, Winneshiek County Supervisors, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.

Our new Regional Collection Center

Our Education Center

The Clean Up Crew is a service provided to the residents of Floyd, Mitchell, Chickasaw and Howard counties in an effort to protect our groundwater by properly disposing of HOUSEHOLD Hazardous Waste at no cost to residents. Businesses and farms may contact us at  877-982-4288 for disposal pricing and information. We can help you dispose of farm waste (pesticides, herbicides, etc.) and business waste (toners, solutions, chemicals, etc.) but there will be a charge.  Businesses (including farms) must meet EPA criteria of a "Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator" (CESQG).  Pre-approval is required. Forms are available by calling 877-982-4288.  Business hazardous waste is classified differently than residential household hazardous waste.

We will safely dispose of your household hazardous waste such as cleaners, paint, varnish, oil, oil filters, household and automotive batteries, fluorescent bulbs, antifreeze, etc.. New this year is the acceptance of sharps. We do not accept Fire Extinguishers, Ammunition, Asbestos, Pressurized Cylinders, Cooking Oil, empty containers, appliances or garbage at the HHW sites.

This service is offered free for HOUSEHOLD WASTE, BY APPOINTMENT ONLY April through October at our satellite facilities in Osage, Charles City, and New Hampton, or Monday through Friday at the landfill. Make your appointment or get more information now by calling 1-877-982-4288 between the hours of 7 AM and 2:30 PM Monday through Friday.

Electronic items including computers, audio and video components, and televisions may be recycled at the same time and location as your hazardous household waste appointment, or daily at the landfill. There is a charge of 25 cents/pound for televisions and monitors, copiers and scanners, but other electronics are recycled at no charge. Open to all, including residents, businesses, schools, government agencies, including hospitals in our service area. Please call for appointment and more information. Dates and terms subject to change without notice.

 

FMC's Mobile Collection Unit

FMC's goal is to give residents a safe and convenient alternative to properly dispose of hazardous waste.  Proper management limits the amount of household hazardous waste that is sewered or land filled and reduces the chance of environmental contamination.

Through education, we hope residents will buy only what they need.  Of course recycling is a part of all of our lives and residents are encouraged to reuse leftover material by sharing with friends and neighbors.  

The facility is operated under these same philosophies.  A product exchange room is set up to allow access to free items that are still usable.  Cardboard, steel, antifreeze and batteries are some of the materials that are separated for recycling.  Employing these methods reduces the amount of material that needs to be disposed as hazardous waste by more than sixty percent.

Almost every home contains hazardous products. They are used in cleaning, home improvement projects, automobile maintenance, lawn and garden care, and a variety of other tasks.

The Floyd-Mitchell-Chickasaw Solid Waste Management Agency operates three satellite Regional Collection Centers for the collection of Household Hazardous Waste. There is one each of the counties in our service area which are open to residents from Floyd, Mitchell and Chickasaw Counties. These collection centers are open two days each month from April through October. There is no charge for Household Hazardous Waste. If you are a business, or the waste is from a hobby, there will probably be a charge. Call the Agency for more information.

An appointment is necessary for several reasons. Each Regional Collection Center is only open occasionally as mentioned above. When you call for an appointment, we will determine if you are eligible to use our services, if the materials you plan to bring are acceptable, and we can get an idea of the quantities for staffing and equipment reasons. The staff often leaves the site after the last appointment has left, so if you don’t have an appointment and simply show up, you may be the only person there!

To put it simply, household hazardous wastes are the unused or leftover portions of household hazardous materials (HHMs). HHMs are products which pose a health threat when disposed of improperly. Hazardous wastes usually have one or more of the following characteristics:

Corrosive or Caustic: They eat or wear away at most materials.

Flammable: They easily ignite.

Reactive: They can react with other chemicals and produce deadly vapors.

Toxic: They are poisonous to humans and animals.

Signal words printed on the label such as CAUTION, DANGER, WARNING, or KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN indicate that a material is probably a hazardous household product.

Paint, cleaners, batteries, chemicals, liquids and other Hazardous Household Waste are accepted free of charge at our Hazardous Household Waste Collection sites which operate twice a month in each of the three counties from April through October. There are collection sites near the cities of Charles City, Osage, and New Hampton. Call 877-982-4288 from 7AM - 3PM to schedule an appointment.  This service is free to residences, but business, hobby, and some farm products are not eligible for free disposal.

How do I dispose of latex paint?

Good news! Latex paint is water-based, meaning it is NOT hazardous, and can be safely disposed of at home.  Take a can of paint, and add cat litter or sawdust into it.  Give it a good stir, and leave the lid off to let it dry.  When it’s dry, keep the lid off and toss the paint can into the garbage!  If you have more than half a gallon of paint, pour the paint out onto strips of newspaper for drying.  When it’s all dry – toss it in the garbage.

If you don’t want to take care of latex paint at home, FMCH’s Regional Collection Center will accept latex paint for $1 per one-gallon container, and $5 for a five-gallon container.

Small Business

Call the Landfill at 877-982-4288 for instructions and fees regarding the disposal of hazardous waste.

There is a charge for Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generators.  

CESQG- Determining Status: Amount of hazardous waste generated. As per the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)

Your business qualifies as a CESQG, if the following rules are met:

I. Business must generate 220 pounds or less of hazardous waste per month and accumulate no more than 2,200 pounds on site at any one time.

II. Businesses must generate 2.2 pounds or less of acutely hazardous waste per month and accumulate no more than this amount on site at any one time.

The above mentioned wastes are NOT accepted directly at landfill, only collection sites.