The City of Naperville will open its new regional Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility on Saturday, February 21, giving area residents a larger, more efficient location to dispose of unwanted household chemicals, batteries, paint and other hazardous waste.
The facility is located at 156 Fort Hill Drive, just north of the Department of Public Works building at Fort Hill Drive and Jefferson Avenue. It will operate on Saturdays and Sundays, from 9AM to 2PM, excluding holidays. Materials may not be dropped off outside these posted hours.
Naperville operates one of only four permanent drop-off locations for household hazardous waste in the state in cooperation with the City of Aurora and Will, DuPage and Kane counties. Since 1992, the program has operated out of Fire Station No. 4 on the City‘s north side. During Fiscal Year 2014, the City collected 266 tons of household hazardous materials, including oil, anti-freeze, cleaning products, flammables, fertilizers, paints, prescription medications, herbicides and more.
The $1.185 million facility – $900,000 of which was funded through a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity – features a covered drop-off area, as well as sorting, storage, office and staff spaces. It is expected to improve efficiency of sorting materials; shorten wait times for those dropping off materials; and provide increased protection for the public and employees through spill control, sprinklers and ventilation.
“As a City long dedicated to providing a more sustainable community, we are so pleased to open this building to the region and increase our capacity to safely dispose of household hazardous waste,” said Mayor A. George Pradel.
A ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the opening of the new regional Household Hazardous Waste Facility is scheduled for Friday, February 20, at 2PM. The celebration will include a walk-through of the new facility. The public and media are welcome to attend.
The opening of the HHW Facility completes Naperville‘s Environmental Collection Campus, which serves as a one-stop-drop for area residents to safely recycle everything from paper and electronics to household chemicals and prescription medications. The campus features multiple waste-specific drop-off and drive-through lanes for customers wanting to recycle electronics, dispose of hazardous waste, or drop off traditional recyclables.
“This campus is certainly one-of-a-kind, and its impact on our capacity to expand green initiatives and improve efficiency will be great,” said Dick Dublinski, Director of Public Works. “Our goal is to operate a convenient and efficient campus that will make it easy for our residents and our neighbors to be in compliance with the law and keep electronic devices and hazardous materials out of landfills.”
Additional information about the Household Hazardous Waste facility can be found at www.naperville.il.us/
