You may have seen some messages from Rumpke recently about battery disposal. Read on to find out what you are supposed to do with your spent batteries in Clermont County or Adams County, regardless of what trash service you use.
Alkaline batteries are single use, non-rechargeable, and are typically AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V sizes. Alkaline batteries will say “alkaline” on the battery. Alkaline batteries are ok to throw away in the trash. Check the batteries to be sure they do not say “lithium” or “rechargeable” before throwing away. Tape the terminals of 9V batteries before throwing away. Throw the batteries out as you use them. No need to collect them for special disposal. If you have a large collection you need to throw away, throw them into your bags of household trash a handful at a time. Do not place alkaline batteries in your recycling.
NEVER place lithium or rechargeable batteries in the trash or recycling. Lithium or rechargeable batteries come in may forms, from many kinds of battery powered devices. Lithium and rechargeable batteries can be AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V sizes, looking the same as alkaline batteries if you don’t pay close attention. These batteries will be labeled as “lithium” or “rechargeable” if they are not alkaline. Other types of lithium and rechargeable batteries can be found in
Placing lithium or rechargeable batteries in your trash or recycling causes devastating fires inside collection trucks and at facilities. Instead, you must dispose of lithium or rechargeable batteries by taking them to Lowes, Home Depot, Target, Best Buy, Staples, cell phone stores, or Batteries Plus Bulbs. Most stores that sell products with lithium or rechargeable batteries will have a special collection box for these batteries near their customer service desk. Call the store you plan to go to before heading over to confirm that they are running a lithium/rechargeable battery collection program.
If you have a business that regularly generates spent lithium or rechargeable batteries, you can look into purchasing your own battery disposal box from Call2Recycle. Once you fill the box, you can just ship it back to Call2Recycle.
Lead-acid car batteries never go in the trash or recycling. Ohio law requires anyone who sells car batteries to take old ones back. Contact your preferred auto service provider for car battery drop-off information.
Do you have other materials lying around your house that you need to dispose of, but don’t know how to do it properly? Check out this page for all things recycling and disposal in Adams and Clermont County http://oeqrecycle.clermontcountyohio.gov/tree/
Get out your calendars and save the date for the next Tire Collection event! Every year, The Adams-Clermont Solid Waste District applies for funding for tire amnesty days through the Ohio EPA’s Recycle Ohio Community & Litter Grant and the grant was awarded for the 2021-2022 grant cycle. This year’s tire amnesty day will be Friday September 24 & Saturday September 25, 8am-1pm in Jackson Twp, 3341 US Highway 50, Williamsburg, OH. We will be accepting up to 10 tires per person/household for $1 per tire. If you have more than 10 tires, please contact Doug Snyder at dsnyder@clermontcountyohio.gov or (513) 732-7744 prior to the event for assistance.
Want to be the first to know about tire amnesty events in your community? Sign up for our newsletter here! When you sign up, please put your township of residence next to your name in the “name” box.
If you need to dispose of your tires and are unable to make it to this event, please contact any tire retailer near you. Most tire retailers (such as Tire Discounters, Walmart, Firestone) will accept used tires and charge around $3.50/tire. For a list of other places to take your tires year round, see our Recycling Tree.
If you have any additional questions regarding proper tire disposal, please email Doug Snyder at dsnyder@clermontcountyohio.gov
Did you know that up to 40% of food grown and imported into the U.S. is wasted? Solid Waste Management Districts across Southwest Ohio are working with food service businesses and institutions to implement wasted food management practices that save money, benefit society, build customer loyalty, and improve the environment.
At this virtual workshop, the Center for EcoTechnology (CET) will provide an introduction to implementing wasted food prevention, donation, and diversion programs to Food Manufacturers and Retailers. Participants will also have a chance to meet with local service providers.
Participants will leave with an understanding of the next steps for building wasted food management into their operations and access to digital resources and guidance documents. All attendees will also have access to free one-on-one technical assistance from CET, which they can sign up for during or after the workshop.
Please reach out to wastedfood@cetonline.org with any questions.
You can find complete details in the event registration form. We will be sharing a final agenda and list of speakers with registered attendees prior to the event.
This workshop is in partnership with Hamilton, Warren, Montgomery, Adams-Clermont, and Butler County Solid Waste Management Districts, with support from EPA Region 5.
If you dropped off a strand of Christmas lights to one of the drop offs in the county this past holiday season, you’d be happy to hear that the amount of lights collected was almost double the amount collected during the prior year. Due to multiple collection points hosted by various county agencies, a total of 620 pounds of lights were collected in Clermont County!
The collected lights were taken to Cohen Recycling for processing. First, Cohen removed any non-recyclable trash from the load of lights. Lights were then packaged up and shipped to a metal recycler, where they will be chopped up into little pieces and the copper removed.
The recycling process is different depending on who buys the recycled lights. In some states, the lights are shredded, then separated into the raw products (plastic, glass and metal wire). These raw products are used to make roofing & construction materials, soles on slippers, car batteries, and new copper wire and pipes to name a few.
So, thank you to all who recycled Christmas lights through the special program. By adhering to ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’, we can make our world a little cleaner, a little more sustainable.
When the holidays are over, make sure you treecycle! The act of recycling a live Christmas tree is a leading reason many experts agree they are more environmentally friendly than their plastic counterparts.
Treecycling is the act of recycling your cut Christmas tree, so that it can be used in other capacities. The trees can get a second life after they are chipped (used for mulch and hiking trails), become fish or wildlife habitat, or are utilized for lake and river shoreline stabilization.
Locally, many communities and the Clermont County Park District are offering opportunities for you to treecycle. But before you take your tree to a collection site or haul it to the curb for pick-up, please be sure to remove all lights, tinsel, and decorations.
Among Clermont County recycling opportunities:
Looking to recycle string lights? click here
Recycle your broken or unwanted holiday lights in Clermont County at any of the locations listed below. Only holiday lights should go in the designated collection bins – please do not put bags or boxes in the bins.
Items to be recycled include indoor and outdoor light strands, icicle lights and rope lights. Please do not bring individual bulbs, pre-lit trees, wreaths or other decorations. Also please don’t put holiday lights in the curbside or drop-off recycling dumpsters. Lights have to be collected separately from other recyclables because they can tangle the equipment used to sort materials at the recycling facilities.
For questions about this program, please contact Laura Lair of the Solid Waste District at llair@clermontcountyohio.gov or visit www.CohenUSA.com/lights.
Located just outside of Clermont County, McNicholas High school is hosting a low-cost shred event on November 7th from 9am-12pm. Participants may bring up to 5 banker’s boxes (or household trash bags) of documents to shred for just $20. For comparison, the minimum cost of shredding services at a typical retailer is $1/lb. — a full banker’s box can weigh 35 lbs. or more!
Proceeds from the event benefit McNicholas High School’s athletic programs.
Good news! The annual Spring Litter Cleanup has been rescheduled for July 4th through 25th. Go to www.springlittercleanup.com for more information!
Plastic bags do not go in curbside or drop-off recycling bins! Trash bags and shopping bags cannot be recycled at the facilities we send our recyclables to. When bags go to our recycling facilities, they can tangle on the sorting equipment and cause it to break down. Remove your recyclables from bags when you put them in the bin.
Although plastic shopping bags cannot be recycled through our curbside or drop-off recycling programs, recycling your bags is still possible through special programs. Try bringing your shopping bags to a grocery or department store for recycling. Many stores have plastic bag recycling bins just inside their entryways. Make sure your bags are clean and dry before dropping them off at a store recycling program.
Example of an in-store plastic bag recycling program
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