Recycling Today
We are definitely seeing an uptick of residents bringing their Household Hazardous Waste to the Marshall facility these past few days. We thank you for your participation in our programs! The warmer weather has many of us cleaning out or moving and maybe even purchasing a new home.
It’s time to spend just a few minutes to remind everyone on what can and what cannot come to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility (HHW). Most HHW items can be disposed of free of charge at the Marshall Household Hazardous Waste Facility, which serves as a regional site for residential Household Chemical waste from Yellow Medicine County to the Iowa border.
The most popular item that the facility will accept liquid paint, such as latex, at no cost. If your paint has dried out, it can be discarded, as it cannot be recycled.
Other accepted items include household cleaners, yard and garden chemicals, and small quantities of used oil and oil filters, though there is a nominal fee for oil filters.
A comprehensive list of acceptable items can be found on the Lyon County website under the recycling tab. The facility will also accept fluorescent light bulbs, mattresses and box springs, certain farm chemicals, and ballasts. There are some fees for disposing some of these items.
Please remember that empty containers that previously held chemicals should be discarded, not recycled. Empty aerosol cans, including spray paint cans, may also be thrown away. Alkaline batteries should be disposed of as trash, while rechargeable batteries must be taken to a HHW facility. Used paintbrushes and mixing sticks should also be discarded. For safety reasons, please box your items instead of bagging them.
The Marshall HHW facility accepts the following items as well: shredded paper, hardcover books, Christmas lights, electrical cords, car seats, rigid Styrofoam, needles (sharps) in a container, and electronics.
If you are a business and have business waste, you must call before bringing items to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility. If you do not have a waste ID number, your business will need to obtain one through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for free and through an online process.
It generally takes 24 hours and you will have your waste ID number, which after that step, an inventory will need to be taken of the items that your business needs to dispose of. This is generally used for waste chemicals and so forth. Farmers, there is a different approach to certain waste such as farm chemicals. In either case, please call our office for details on how to best approach this process.
As we work on getting ready to move or to have a yard sale, you may have questions about what to do with some items that are broken. We receive frequent questions about items that are small appliances such as mixers, blenders, vacuum cleaners, hair dryers, coffee makers, air fryers, etc. are all trash. These items are not recyclable. These items are trash only.
Clothing and other textiles such as blankets or towels, are usually one of the items that most of us have too much of and many of you are probably wondering what to do with items that don’t sell at your yard sale.
If you are purging clothing from your home, the biggest key when sending those items to our local thrift stores is to make sure it is clean. There are times when clothing, bedding or towels come into the area thrift stores and it is filthy. Please remember that there are humans on the receiving end of these items and we need to make sure that they are safe from harm too. If you have torn or older clothing, thrift stores may be able to take it and use it to make rags or dish cloths.
Clothing is the number one item that could be reused that is thrown away into the landfill. It is estimated that in Minnesota somewhere between 134,000 and 192,000 tons of clothing is landfill every year! How can residents reduce our fashion impact? Buy less. Buy more sustainable brands. Buy better quality clothing so it lasts longer. Repair what you can. Buy secondhand or rent clothing. Wash clothing less often and use cold water when you do in order to reduce energy and make your clothing last longer.
The Marshall HHW facility is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. and every second Saturday of the month from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. If residents should have questions, please feel free to call at (507) 532-8210. The Lyon County Landfill is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and every Saturday from 7 am to noon. The landfill can be contacted at (507) 865-4615.
