Today’s RPC Technical Committee meeting included an overview of the study completed by RPC to identify a strategy to improve household hazardous waste (HHW) collection options in a seven-county east central Illinois region. Work on the study began in 2013 and was completed in 2015.

The take-away product of the RPC study is the Local Government Toolkit: Improving HHW Collection Options in Illinois. (The Toolkit and accompanying Background Report may soon become a published report by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center).

The problem of providing a viable HHW collection option to our citizens has been a longstanding one. In Champaign County we waited six years before receiving the opportunity to hold an IEPA one-day HHW collection at significant cost in September 2012. We are waiting still (four years and counting) for another IEPA one-day HHW collection opportunity. In the meantime, no collection options exist for citizens for safe disposal of:

• Oil-based liquid paints, paint strippers, and thinners
• Herbicides and pesticides
• Lawn chemicals
• Insecticides
• Old gasoline
• Mercury-containing devices
• Drain and oven cleaners
• Spot remover
• Antifreeze
• Pool chemicals
• Household cleaning products
• Car cleaners
• Personal care products

Fortunately, some strides are being made locally by providing local options for safe disposal of unwanted pharmaceuticals.  We have a long way to go with regard to HHW collection options.

As an initial action, please distribute the attached Local Government Toolkit: Improving HHW Collection Options in Illinois for review to all stakeholders with a potential interest, including your planning agency, public works department, and local officials.

The Champaign County Sustainability Practitioners group recommended to form a leadership team to engage in the search for funding sources to support an agreed-upon strategy as a logical first step.

I look forward to receiving  your questions or comments about this upcoming initiative.  Thank you.  

Susan Monte, AICP

Planner

Champaign County Regional Planning Commission