Saturday is National Drug Take-Back Day and West Hartford will also hold a Household Hazardous Waste Collection.

By Ronni Newton

Saturday, Sept. 26, is a good day to get rid of unwanted and potentially dangerous materials you may have lying around the house at two unrelated collection events that happen to be scheduled for the same day.

The Household Hazardous Waste Collection is an MDC program, and available to residents of West Hartford as well as other MDC member communities. Collections are scheduled throughout the spring and fall each year, and Saturday’s event will be held at the Public Works Garage at 17 Brixton St. The collection will run from 8 a.m. through 1 p.m.

Household hazardous waste includes fluorescent bulbs, items containing mercury, antifreeze and other automobile fluids, and any household product labeled “toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive.”

The MDC held 11 hazardous waste collections in 2014, and according to the Town of West Hartford, there were 4,375 gallons of flammable liquids, 5,170 gallons of liquid pesticides, 22 cubic yard boxes of solid pesticides, and 177 cubic yards of oil-based and latex paint collected.

For a full list of materials and information about other scheduled household hazardous waste collections, visit the MDC website or call the MDC’s Hazwaste Hotline at (860) 278-3809.

Saturday, Sept. 26, is also “National Take-Back Day,” and the West Hartford Police Department will collect “expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications.”

Take-Back Day will be held from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., in the Town Hall parking lot area on the south side of the West Hartford Police Station. Enter through the Raymond Road gate.

National Take-Back Day is a collaboration with the Health District and the Drug Enforcement Administration to remove potentially dangerous pharmaceutical-controlled substances and other medications from medicine cabinets, prevent their availability for illicit use, and also keep them out of the waste and water stream. The substances will be safely destroyed.

Volunteers will be on hand to collect items directly from vehicles. There is no need to provide your name or any other information for this anonymous program.

Prescription and over-the-counter solid dosage medications such as tablets and capsules will be accepted, but intra-venous solutions, injectables, and needles will not be accepted. Illicit substances, including marijuana and methamphetamine, are not a part of this initiative.

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