Solid Waste Committee event collects household hazardous waste

​Saturday’s collection of household hazardous waste, electronics and other difficult-to-discard items had a clear leader in terms of popularity at the St. Joseph County Fairgrounds.

​Pat Kulikowski, secretary of event sponsor St. Joseph County Solid Waste Committee, was unable to provide an explanation for the unprecedented number of tires turned in Saturday. In all, she said, about 1,700 were turned in over the course of the four-hour event.

Kulikowski said 52,000 pounds of appliances and scrap metal were collected, enough to fill two semi trailers. Paper and cardboard filled three-fourths of a trailer and weighed about 10,000 pounds. Meanwhile, nearly 13,000 pounds of hazardous waste was turned in and an estimated 37,000 pounds of electronics – including televisions, computers and computer accessories – was collected and will be recycled.

​The fall collection will take place Oct. 2.