Pulaski County’s annual Household Hazardous Waste Day may not be returning next year. That’s according to Pulaski County Recycling & Transfer Station Manager Brad Bonnell. He told the county commissioners Monday that last month’s event was “somewhat successful,” but changes at the Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District may put its future in jeopardy.
Bonnell said the district has decided it will no longer offer tire pickup as part of its Hazardous Waste Days. It will continue to cover the cost of removing two semi loads of tires a year, but anything beyond that would have to be covered by the county. “It’s probably going to come to a point where they’re going to be bringing more tires in, since they can’t dispose of them at the Household Hazardous Waste Day,” Bonnell explained. “However, I suspect that over half of them were coming from out-of-county anyway, not even Pulaski County. I probably get more calls from Starke County and other counties than Pulaski County.”
Since tire disposal is one of the biggest draws to the Hazardous Waste Day event, Bonnell said it may be easier to cancel the event entirely than to continue without it. “We do take engine oil, antifreeze, electronics all year long,” he said. “So the only thing that would be any different would be the paint. We don’t store flammables. So that would be the only difference in us hosting the Household Hazardous Waste Day versus not would just be specifically for paint and sharps.”
Additionally, Bonnell said Pulaski County is losing some of the outside help it got with the event. “Miami Correctional does not participate in helping with the tires or Household Hazardous Waste Days,” he said, “which we used to get six, seven, eight guys from there.”
Further complicating matters is the fact that Newton County has been considering pulling out of the six-county Northwest Indiana Solid Waste District. If that were to happen, Bonnell says it would eliminate a large portion of the district’s funding.
