LAPLACE – For the 15th year, industries in St. Charles, St. John the Baptist and St. James Parishes will host the annual Household Hazardous Materials Collection Day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 16.

The goal of this event is to provide resident households an opportunity to properly dispose or recycle materials that are inappropriate for curbside pickup. Lynette Currier, with OxyChem and an event coordinator for the industry sponsors, said, “Please take advantage of this opportunity. Clean out hazardous materials from your utility rooms and sheds now so you can easily and properly dispose of these wastes on March 16.” Jay Lambremont, with Marathon Petroleum Company and also an event coordinator, added, “This close to St. Patrick’s Day, we really are going green! This year, we are accepting used electronics including televisions, computer monitors and radios. Although other recycling opportunities are available in our communities, we want to give residents an opportunity to properly dispose of these items.”

In 2013, the event will offer three sites for residents to bring household hazardous materials for proper disposal and/or recycling. The collection sites are located in Luling at the West Bank Bridge Park in St. Charles Parish, in LaPlace at the New Wine Ministries parking lot in St. John the Baptist Parish and at the Lutcher Senior Center in Lutcher in St. James Parish.

With approval from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, this event is financially sponsored and staffed by volunteers of the following companies as a community service: Air Products (in all parishes), Americas Styrenics, ArcelorMittal (formerly Bayou Steel), Cornerstone Chemical Co., Dow, DuPont, Entergy, Ergon, Evonik Industries, Galata Chemicals, LOCAP, Marathon Petroleum Co., Momentive, Monsanto, Mosaic, Motiva, Nalco – an Ecolab Co, Noranda, Norco Manufacturing Complex, Nucor, NuStar, OxyChem (two locations), Plains Marketing, Praxair, St. James CAER, Shell Pipeline LP, Valero and Valero Asphalt.

Lambremont explained, “We are looking forward to collecting household hazardous materials from our community again this year and will be accepting mercury. We’ve received a few calls regarding proper disposal of the light bulbs with mercury.”

Currier added, “ At last year’s Household Hazardous Materials Collection event, 54 volunteers collected over 21 tons of potentially harmful materials, which was prepared for recycling, recovery, treatment or disposal. Five hundred twelve resident vehicles visited the two collection sites.”

Household Materials which will be accepted include oil-based paint, latex paint, solvents, tires (limit five per vehicle and one delivery only), automotive and other rechargeable batteries, household cleaning products, acids/bases, used oil, antifreeze, aerosol cans, fluorescent lamps, pesticides, herbicides, scrap metal, major appliances, used computers and electronics. The sites cannot accept explosives, ammunition, infectious medical wastes, unidentifiable materials, compressed gas cylinders, radioactive wastes (smoke alarms), asbestos, high school lab wastes or commercial/governmental facility waste, including in-home business waste.

On March 16, in addition to the Household Hazardous Materials Collection Day, in St. John the Baptist and St. James Parishes, the Keep St. John Beautiful and Keep St. James Beautiful organizations, along with the parish governments, will host Clean Sweep and beautification events.

For questions or additional information, send an email to the Household Hazardous Materials Collection Day hotline at hotline@hhmcd.com or visit www.hhmcd.com.