Clean Out Your Garage With Eau Claire’s Upcoming Clean Sweep
now’s your chance to properly dispose of hazardous materials
V1 Staff, photos by Marisa Wojcik
It’s never too late to do some spring cleaning – especially when it comes to potentially hazardous and hard-to-dispose-of items like paint, gas, oil, and batteries.
Eau Claire County’s next “Clean Sweep” – which can take these items and more off your hands – will be 8am to noon on Saturday, July 17, at WRR Environmental Services, 5200 Ryder Road, Eau Claire.
Clean Sweep events are held three times a year. While they provide a good opportunity to dispose of waste that can’t go out with your regular trash, this time around there are more restrictions than usual on what will be accepted. According to a media release from Eau Claire County, there is currently “extremely restricted incineration availability in the hazardous waste industry.”
Here is a list of materials that will be accepted:
- Oil based paint (NOT in glass)
- Latex paint (NOT in glass)*
- Aerosols
- Batteries*
- Light bulbs*
- Wood stain
- Gas, oil
- Fuel stabilizer
- Carburetor and brake cleaners
- Mineral spirits
- Antifreeze
* Fees apply
(Note that all chemicals except for gasoline and oil must have the original product label on the container.)
According to Eau Claire County, “Industry experts are hopeful that by September’s Clean Sweep many of the restrictions have been lifted and other common household items will be added to the list of acceptable waste.” That event is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 11.
This event is hosted by WRR Environmental Services. If you would like to volunteer at the Clean Sweep event, please contact WRR at (715) 852-1602. If you have other questions about the event, please contact the Eau Claire County Recycling & Sustainability Coordinator at (715) 839-2756.