Hoover residents keep more than 100,000 pounds of hazardous waste out of landfill

More than 1,450 people took advantage of the city of Hoover’s 20th annual Household Hazardous Waste Day today at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex.

Collectively, they brought roughly 100,000 to 150,000 pounds of materials better left out of the landfill, said Brian Potter, vice president of operations for MXI Environmental, the company the city hired to safely dispose of the items.

About one-third of that was latex paint, while another third was flammable liquids, Potter said. The rest were a wide variety of items that included pesticides, batteries, oxidizers and items with mercury in them.

One person brought about a pound of DDT, a synthetic organic compound used as an insecticide that is now banned in many countries, including the United States. Another person brought a pound or two of calcium carbide, a compound that underground coal miners once used to create light in their lamps, Potter said.

The city of Hoover also collected about 150 tires, about 200 car batteries, close to 1,000 gallons of motor oil and about 180 gallons of cooking oil, based on rough estimates provided by Public Works Director Tommy Daniel.

The Hoover Police Department took in seven rifles, about nine pistols, about 60 pounds of ammunition, a bag of fireworks and even an M-18 military smoke grenade. But there was no antique German rifle like the one brought by an 84-year-old man last year.

The Foundry Rescue and Recovery Center was at Hoover’s Household Hazardous Waste Day as well and collected three truckloads of electronics, such as TV screens, computers and printers. The nonprofit will recondition and resell items that are still usable and properly dispose of the rest, workers said.

City workers also collected roughly 40 U.S. flags that will be disposed of by the Boy Scouts of America and American Legion.

People sometimes bring some unusual items to Household Hazardous Waste Day. This year, one person brought several cases of wine, Daniel said.

Susan Accinno of the Inverness community said this was her first year to take advantage of the event. She brought some old paint products and pesticides that had been sitting around her house for a long time and two old fax machines, she said.

“I’m so excited I could make it to this today,” Accinno said. “I think it’s wonderful. I’m all for recycling and discarding properly.”