Residents will soon have a chance to dispose of some unwanted, and potentially dangerous, items around their home as the Carter County Landfill and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation are once again teaming up to host a hazardous waste disposal event.

On Saturday, May 19, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m., area residents can bring a variety of hazardous materials to the Carter County Recycling Center, located at 411 Cherokee Park Drive, for proper disposal.

Events like this one set for May 19 allow residents to safely and properly dispose of hazardous household items for free.

“We do not accept this type of stuff at landfills,” Carter County Solid Waste Director Benny Lyons said.

Carter County has partnered with TDEC for several years to help provide this service to local residents.

“They provide the folks to come and do it, and we’re here to support them,” Lyons said. “We usually have one in the spring, and last year we were fortunate enough to also have one in the fall.”

The crew from TDEC separates the items into the different categories at the collection site and then hauls them away for proper disposal. Lyons said after the event he will receive a report from TDEC letting him know what all was collected from the event here in Carter County.

Over the years, Lyons said he has seen some interesting items brought in for disposal.

“We’ve had pesticides brought in that have been illegal for years,” he said. Once, he noted, someone brought a 16-ounce jar of mercury for disposal.

One of the common items Lyons said they encounter at the event is old gasoline that people have stockpiled for emergencies but has gone bad.

Among the items residents cannot get off their hands at the upcoming event is paint. In years past the collection events would accept certain types of paint but now all types of paint are prohibited.

Below is a listing of acceptable and unacceptable items for disposal. Anyone with questions about whether or not an item can be accepted, or those seeking more information on the disposal event, can contact the Carter County Landfill at 423-543-6626.

Acceptable Items:

• Automotive and Marine products such as fuel, gasoline, oil, additives, solvents, cleaners, and fluids

• Home Maintenance/Improvement Products such as strippers, thinners, adhesives, sealants, roofing tar, wallpaper remover

• Home Lawn and Garden Products such as pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemicals

• Miscellaneous Items such as pool chemicals, photo processing chemicals, aerosols, compressed gas, mercury thermostats, mercury thermometers, fluorescent tubes, and compact fluorescent bulbs

Unacceptable Items:

• Medical or Biological Waste such as infectious wastes, dead animals, and any waste from a doctor’s office, clinic, or veterinarian’s office

• Explosives such as fireworks, military ordnance, gun powder, and ammunition

• Radioactives such as smoke detectors and radium paint

• Business/Institutional Waste

• Miscellaneous Items such as automotive gas tanks, empty containers of any kind, alkaline batteries (these may be disposed of in normal household garbage), electronics, tires, paint of any kind.