Now’s your chance to safely get rid of hazardous materials in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Fertilizers, pesticides, paint thinners. All of them may sit in your garage or shed for a while, and you might forget about them.

But now is a great time to get rid of them before they cause a real problem.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department is hosting two hazardous waste collection sites this week.

The first was at the Raymond Rural Fire District on Friday, and the second will be at Star City Shores on Saturday.

The collections are for anyone to bring in their hazardous household items.

The team will take them off of your hands for free and properly dispose of them.

Ralph Martin, an environmental health specialist with the department, said it’s important that you don’t just throw these things out on your own.

“It’s best not to throw these materials in the trash because they go right into our landfill and can contaminate our soil and our water,” Martin said. “This way, we’re collecting them, packaging them safely for transport, and then shipping them off for disposal.”

Martin said if you leave the items in your house, it could cause a multitude of problems.

“You could have spills,” he said. “Those products could start leaking and reacting in ways that you don’t want.”

And not to mention, if a child or animal were to get into a hazardous item, it could be deadly.

You can bring your hazardous items to Star City Shores from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Once you turn a product in, the crew condenses the materials and sends them off to Chicago, where they will be recycled.

If you bring in a material the department does not accept, the team will help you find a way to safely dispose of it.