ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - The Alachua County Environmental Protection Department’s (ACEPD) Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Program recently received both a national and state award at the annual North American Hazardous Materials Management Association (NAHMMA) conference in St. Petersburg Beach. The awards were for Longstanding Program Excellence, which recognizes local government hazardous waste programs that have been in service for at least 20 years and have consistently gone above and beyond to help their community and the profession.
According to NAHMMA, Alachua County’s program was recognized for the following achievements:
It currently averages over 35,000 customers annually, is well regarded in the community and exhibits the characteristics that make it a shining example of consistently going above and beyond to help not only the local community but to those within a large part of N. Central Florida. The program is innovative, creative and is a model for demonstrating how an operation can be inclusive, far reaching, and willing to deal with new or emerging areas in the hazardous waste collection/outreach and education field.
HHW Program services include: stale gasoline pump out service for boats, free residential home heating oil tank pump out service, collection of fluorescent and CFLs’ at 14 locations in Alachua County, and collection of pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter medications at 8 locations. Additionally, the program collects electronic scrap (E-scrap), operates a Recycle/Reuse Area at the HHW Center, hosts mobile HHW collection events in small cities and large neighborhoods in the County. The HHW Program also hosts an annual recycled latex paint giveaway for not for profit agencies and community groups at no cost.
For more information about NAHMMA, click here.
For more information about the Household Hazardous Waste program click here, or contact Household Hazardous Waste Coordinator Kurt Seaburg at 352-334-0440.