By Herlinda Gonzalez
Congratulations to the community for recycling! We had outstanding participationon April 29 at the Spring BOPA. Here are the statistic of what we kept out of the Atascocita landfill:
BATTERIES 2347 LBS.
USED MOTOR OIL 3650 LBS.
COOKING OIL 925 LBS
LATEX PAINT 20100 LBS.
ANTIFREEZE 450 LBS.
SCRAP METAL 4600 LBS.
TOTAL POUNDS 32072 LBS.
- CUSTOMERS 601
- POUNDS PER HOME 53.4 LBS.
Just to let you compare how outstanding this collection is, Clear Lake which also conducted a BOPA event had 60 customers.Thank you Kingwood for caring!
Additionally, the DEA collected expired and unused medications. We have not received our results but we saw hundreds of residents come through the collection site. The DEA website reports that Texas collected over 40 tons and was number 1 in amount collected. Proper disposal keeps medication out of the landfill, our waterways and our food chain.
Special thanks to Keep Kingwood Green volunteers, Kingwood High School National Honor Society volunteers, Q-ENVIRONMENTAL, Pete at Junky Business, Kingwood Chick-fil-A, a team from the City Solid Waste Department headed up by Larry Stockham, the two DEA agents as well as the Houston Police Department for their service.
Now to the questions:
Q: Gerri: Please let me know what time the electronics recycling at the Metro Park and Ride will be? I’d like to drop off a printer.
A: The first Saturday of every month Compucycle will be at the Metro lot from 9 to 3. You can go to their website at Compucycle.net to get a complete list of what they take.
Q: John: Do you know of a place I could dispose of some medical waste/items. We got a bunch of expired medical stuff (Needles, medication (non-pill) , used catheters, and contaminated items such as used gauze, bandages, and iodine wipes).
A: Some of the items you mention are definitely medical waste and it is difficult to dispose of Medial Waste without sending it to a licensed facility that collects if from hospitals and doctor’s offices. There are a number of private firms that do that but they do charge for the services. They can be found in the Yellow Pages or via web search under the heading “Waste Disposal – Medical.” The City has no provisions to take that kind of waste. In a web search I saw a non-profit organization, Medical Bridges 713-748-8131, that takes medical supplies. We have not vetted them. You might try your family doctor or a local medical clinic and ask if they will take it for you as they all have to use one of these paid services.
Q: Chet: How/where do I properly dispose of paints not accepted at BOPA, construction items (glues, caulk, fillers, etc) and pesticides?
A. The City operates two Environmental Service Centers (ESC). Unfortunately they are not convenient to Kingwood but they will take the items you have mentioned. The Westpark Consumer Recycling Center at 5900 West Park, Houston, (713) 837-0311, also takes a number of items that they cannot take at the BOPA. If you visit this link to Westpark, you can see what they do take: http://www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/westpark.html. At the bottom of that page there are links to the two ESC’s .Those links show what they take and their hours of operation. You should call them about the items you have.