Palmy residents safely rid of 1.3 tonnes of hazardous waste

The Palmerston North community is 1.3 tonnes of hazardous waste lighter after another successful MyHazWaste event in the city. 

The event, run for the Palmerston North City Council by 3R Group’s chemical collection and disposal specialists ChemCollect, gave residents the chance to dispose of household, garden, automotive and pool chemicals. 

3R Group General Manager ChemCollect Jason Richards says this was the fourth MyHazWaste event held for the council. “This has been an annual event for Palmy and it’s very satisfying knowing we are taking hazardous material out of the community to be compliantly disposed of,” he says. 

“Often people don’t know what to do with unwanted, expired or even banned chemicals they have in the shed or garage. It’s really important it doesn’t end up in the council landfill or, worse, down the drain.” 

The events always see some unusual chemicals being brought in, Jason says, with this year being no different. “We had some white phosphorus which was used as a pesticide as well as banned chemicals like Lindane, Dieldrin and Paraquat. These are all incredibly toxic.” 

The collected chemicals are sorted according to their class and then to how they will be disposed of – some of which are sent overseas for high-heat incineration. 

MyHazWaste events have also had good success in Auckland, Cambridge, Te Awamutu and Central Hawke’s Bay. 

To find out more about the events visit the MyHazWaste page.