February weather means we are spending a little more time inside and maybe we are starting to clean out closets and cupboards. For those of us who have canisters or boxes of batteries, there is a place to take some of them for free.

Alkaline batteries that can often be found in things like a remote control or in a flashlight should be thrown into the garbage. There isn’t anything in them that can harm the environment. It is often safer to just throw them away once they no longer work rather than keep them.

If you have button batteries or rechargeable batteries, these should be brought to the Household Hazardous Waste facility in Marshall for free. These types of batteries are often found in cards, electronics, and rechargeable drills. These, if broken open, can start on fire if they come into contact with water. Acid based batteries such as car batteries or tractor batteries can be brought to Alter Metal.

Residents who have needles (sharps) to dispose of should please make sure to place them in an approved sharps container like the ones you might see in a doctor’s office. The containers generally have a white lid and a red body. You can purchase these sharps containers online or from one of our local pharmacies. We also sell them at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility. We will take the closed, full, approved sharps containers at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility for free. This program is offered through a partnership with Avera. Please do not throw needles into the trash or flush them down the drain. Waste haulers and water treatment employees can potentially come into contact with them, which can raise some serious health issues for these employees.

Sharps containers and batteries should never be placed into curbside recycling containers or the community recycling containers. Businesses should call a disposal company such as Stericycle to dispose of sharps.

We are often cleaning out items from our homes such as paint. If you have paint that you need to dispose of, it should be brought to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility. If you have latex paint that has dried out in the can or the paint can is empty; you can throw them into the trash. They are not recyclable. No trash service at your home? You can self-haul trash to the Lyon County Landfill and trash is accepted there for a fee. We only accept cans of paint that have liquid paint in them. Oil based paints or stain can also be brought to the Household Hazardous Waste facility for free. These programs are offered to residents only. Businesses who have waste to dispose of should call us for details on how best to dispose of these items. Business waste is handled differently than residential hazardous waste.

Please remember to box up your paint if possible. Do not bag it! We often find that bagged up paint (and other chemicals) will leak and can cause significant issues or even a dangerous situation in your vehicle if chemicals mix together. Paint cans or other cans such as varnish, for example, have been known to tip over in vehicles or have had the bottom fall out of rusty cans. Paint disposal is free for residents to dispose of at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility.

And last but not least-if you are looking for a larger recycling cart, especially if you have a 35 gallon recycling cart (green lid and a green body, about 2 feet tall), we would like to help you get a larger recycling cart. County staff will switch out your current cart for a larger cart during your recycling pickup day. There is no charge to you and the price remains the same which is $50/year regardless of the size of the cart you have. We would like to move as many residents as we can into 65 gallon recycling carts or the 95 gallon recycling carts. Please call (507) 532-1307 to request a larger recycling cart.

The Household Hazardous Waste facility (HHW) is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. and every second Saturday of the month from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. The telephone number for the HHW is (507) 532-8210. The Lyon County Landfill is open Monday-Friday 6 a.m.-4 p.m. and Saturdays 7 a.m.-noon. The landfill can be reached at (507) 865-4615.