Credit COVID-19 for another postponement.
Chatham-Kent’s annual Household Hazardous Waste Day, scheduled for Sept. 12, is on hold until further notice.
Municipal staff say public gathering limit concerns led to the postponement.
Since 2001, the annual event has been “highly successful” as residents could safely dispose of household hazardous waste at designated locations at no charge, staff said.
Officials want residents to know that this event will be rescheduled as soon as it is safe to do so under restrictions enacted to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“The situation with COVID-19 is changing and we fully anticipate to hold another event at a future date, but right now our priority must be the protection of the public and employees,” said Rick Kucera, Chatham-Kent Manager of Waste and Recycling Services, in a media release. “We are urging the public to continue to safely store the materials they have until we can establish a new date.”
Household Hazardous Waste Day is a joint project between Chatham-Kent and Waste Connections of Canada’s Ridge Landfill and is designed to ensure hazardous material is not placed in garbage containers where it could possibly injure collection workers or cause environmental damage.
Last year residents in more than 1,400 vehicles brought household hazardous waste to three public works garages. This was in addition to the hundreds of vehicles and residents who only dropped off used waste oil and were not included in the above-noted Household Hazardous Waste Day vehicle count.
Public notice of a new date will be provided to residents as soon as possible.
