Four Hours on Florence Road: Rutherford County’s Once-a-Year Garage Cleanout Is Oct. 10
Murfreesboro residents are good at recycling. Cardboard gets broken down, cans get rinsed, and since August even old mattresses have somewhere better to go than the landfill. But there is a category of trash the blue bin cannot help with: the half-used gallon of weed killer, the rusty can of paint thinner, the propane cylinder from a grill that is long gone. For that, Rutherford County opens a window once a year, and this year it is Saturday, Oct. 10.
The county and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will run a free household hazardous waste collection from 8 a.m. to noon at the City of Murfreesboro Solid Waste Department, 4765 Florence Road. County officials stress that this is the only drop-off location for the day, so do not take hazardous items to the regular convenience centers.
What they will take
The state's mobile collection accepts the everyday chemicals that build up in garages, sheds and under kitchen sinks, including:
- Pesticides, herbicides and lawn and garden chemicals
- Paint thinners, solvents and varnish
- Cleaning fluids and aerosol cans
- Pool chemicals
- Propane cylinders
- Mercury thermometers and thermostats, and fluorescent bulbs
- Rechargeable batteries, including lithium-ion, nickel-cadmium and small sealed lead-acid types
What they will not
Leave these at home: ammunition, explosives and fireworks, radioactive material, and medical or biological waste, including anything from a doctor's office or veterinary clinic. Smoke detectors are not accepted either, though they can be recycled elsewhere. The event is for households only, so nothing from a business, school or farm operation. Ordinary alkaline batteries made after 1996 contain no added mercury and can go in the regular trash.
To keep the line moving, leave products in their original labeled containers, pack them upright in a box, and stay in your car while workers unload. Questions go to Rutherford County Solid Waste at 615-848-7739 or the state program at 888-891-8332.
Why it is worth the Saturday
Tennessee's mobile collection program has been running since 1993. In that time it has held more than 1,500 one-day events, served over 383,000 households and kept more than 25 million pounds of hazardous material out of landfills and away from the creeks that feed the Stones River. In a county adding thousands of new residents every year, that is a lot of garages.
Can't make it on Oct. 10? Wilson County holds its collection on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Ward Agricultural Center in Lebanon and welcomes residents from outside the county. Sumner County follows on Oct. 17.
For more on how the county is keeping bulky items out of the ground, see our story on Rutherford County's mattress and box spring recycling. And if you are cleaning out the garage to make room for fall, our guide to October in Rutherford County has the fun part.
