Media Release

21 April 2004

Haste to the HazMobile

Since its inception in 1999, the HazMobile collection service for household hazardous waste has proved popular because it is practical.

Provided jointly by the councils of the Auckland region, the service is free. It’s also very convenient. On HazMobile collection days, residents wanting to get rid of solvents and paint strippers, for example, can deliver them to the designated HazMobile collection point and leave the problem products with the experts.

Driving back home, they might wonder what becomes of the hazardous household waste. Much of it is put to productive use. Oil is delivered to the Holcim cement factory in Westport where it is used to fire the kilns. Gas cylinders are de-gassed and cut up for scrap metal, while paint goes to the graffiti programme; it is recycled and sold through the Warehouse as ‘Enviropaints’.

The solvents and paint strippers are refined and re-used. Toilet and drain cleaners are donated to the City Mission if they are in good condition; if not, they have to be treated and disposed of, as do bleaches and pool and garden chemicals. Car batteries are recycled, while rechargeable batteries are sent to France and recycled.

So if you’re wondering what on earth to do with your unwanted hazardous waste, the HazMobile mobile collection service is the answer. All you need to do is check when there’s a HazMobile Collection Day coming your way. For that information, visit the HazMobile website www.hazmobile.govt.nz or call Auckland Regional Council on (09) 366 2000. You can also call Auckland City on (09) 379 2020.

If you have ammunition or explosives you’d prefer to turn in, call your nearest police station for advice. And if your hazardous waste is of the medical type, ask your doctor or other health professional about how and where to dispose of these items safely.

HazMobile Collection Days are held from 10am to 2pm. If attending one, please bear in mind that staff work as fast as they can, but with hundreds of people using the service it may take a couple of minutes to unload your car!

If you haven’t been to one, you could find that HazMobile collections are as much fun as they are necessary to keep our environment in good shape. Folks with hazardous household waste to dispose of invariably have a story or two to swap about the strangely coloured liquids that have been sitting on granddad’s shelf in the garage for the past 15 years.

So, don’t wait till the next time you clean out your garage, if you have hazardous household waste, haste to the HazMobile!

ENDS

© Scoop Media

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