Warren County’s annual Hazardous Waste Collection Day on July 17 is estimated to cost $31,000 to provide the service for free to residents using grant money.

Hazardous Waste Collection Day is sponsored by the Warren County Board of Supervisors and the Mississippi State Department of Environmental Quality. The Department of Environmental Quality has given a grant to the county of $75,000, which mainly goes to covering the cost of the day.

Warren County Chancery Clerk Donna Hardy said it would be hard to predict the total cost of the event, except to look back at history. Therefore, the estimated amount is based on averages of previous years, because there is no flat fee for the event cost. Until the event is over, the real cost of the event will remain unknown as the cost depends on the quantity and types of items brought. 

“They can only charge for types of items,” Hardy said. “You don’t know if you’re going to get one hundred or a thousand.”

Each type of waste has a different cost and the total will be determined by the items brought in. Hazardous waste consists of many things people often wouldn’t consider hazardous and may discard without knowledge of the harm they are doing. A few of these things include computer equipment, batteries, paint and light bulbs.

In addition to these items, several non-hazardous household items will be accepted free of charge. These items are: tires, metals, and documents in need of shredding. Residents can also appropriately dispose of damaged American flags. A complete list of the items that will be accepted can be found here. 

Hardy said this event is important, because almost anything is accepted, and it gives citizens the ability to get rid of things that may be difficult to dispose of any other day. The day is meant to serve as a community-wide clean up program.

“These are often items that you will find being put improperly into our waste management collection or thrown on the roadside,” Hardy said. “This gives them an opportunity to bring it out to a designated place and drop it off knowing that it is going to be properly handled and disposed of and not run the risk of littering the community with hazardous products.”

District 5 Supervisor Kelle Barfield said this has been her favorite day of the year for quite some time, because it encourages her and others to clean out their garages and yards. She said when thinking about factors of quality in a place people want to live, the place being free of litter is critical. To her, she said, it shows the residents care about their town, which is important for tourism and new businesses being set up.

“People want to live in a clean place,” Barfield said.

This year the event will take place on July 17 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sherman Avenue Elementary School parking lot. Hazardous Waste Collection Day only takes place once a year, so Hardy encouraged the public to take advantage while the opportunity is available.