Wauconda residents can order trash pickup of paint, electronics, more
This story has been updated to say the pickups of electronics or other potentially hazardous household items aren't necessarily on regularly scheduled garbage removal days.
The company that handles trash removal in Wauconda has launched a service for residents who want to conveniently get rid of unwanted electronics, chemicals and other environmentally hazardous items.
Dubbed "At Your Door," Waste Management's program allows homeowners to leave those and other products outside their front doors for pickup.
The program already has been available in Lake Villa, Elgin, Geneva and unincorporated Kane County,
The service comes to Wauconda at no additional fee to residents. Its cost was built into Wauconda's latest contract with Waste Management.
That deal was inked in October and extends the company's longstanding, exclusive arrangement with Wauconda until 2020.
Wauconda officials started talking to Waste Management about launching some sort of special garbage pickup in town because local electronic-recycling programs have discontinued, Public Works Director Brad Fink said.
That conversation expanded to include other potentially dangerous items that can be found in most homes, Fink said.
Items that can be left for pickup include electronics, garden chemicals, household and auto batteries, fluorescent lamps, motor oil, antifreeze, thermometers containing mercury and latex paint.
Medical needles and lancets can be discarded if they are placed in sealed, rigid and puncture-resistant containers.
Ammunition, explosives, medicine, asbestos, materials in leaking containers or items in unlabeled containers are prohibited.
Pickups must be scheduled in advance.
There are three ways to schedule a pickup. People can:
• Call (800) 449-7587 on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• Visit the program's website, wmatyourdoor.com.
• Email atyourdoor@wm.com.
Participants will receive collection kits in the mail that include directions, a containment bag and labels for items that need to be identified.
The collection bags must be placed outside by the front door or in front of the garage by 7 a.m. on the scheduled day.
Bags should not be placed by the curb or in garbage carts.
"They don't want you hauling the stuff down to the curb," Fink said. "They'll come up and get it."
Some items don't need to be bagged, including: up to four vehicle batteries, up to 10 fluorescent light bulbs, a single television or the various components of a single computer system.