Events

E-CARE event returns this weekend, allowing residents to drop off hazardous materials

E-CARE event at Yorktown High School (photo courtesy of Arlington County)

Arlington residents will be able to get rid of all that motor oil, latex paint, old 90s electronics, unused bikes, and mercury laying around the house at this weekend’s Environmental Collection and Recycling (E-CARE) event.

The biannual event is coming back to Yorktown High School on Saturday, April 23, giving residents a chance to safely dispose of household hazardous materials, old electronics, bikes, and other small metal items.

E-CARE will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with the county asking folks to enter via 28th Street N. While the event is intended to be drive-through, those dropping off on foot or via bike will “get super-fast VIP treatment,” reads the email the county sent late last week.

Below is a list of accepted items.

  • Automotive fluids
  • Batteries
  • Car care products
  • Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)
  • Corrosives (acids/caustics)
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Flammable solvents
  • Fluorescent tubes
  • Fuels/petroleum products
  • Household cleaners
  • Lawn and garden chemicals
  • Mercury
  • Paint products (25-can limit)
  • Photographic chemicals
  • Poisons (pesticides)
  • Printer ink/toner cartridges
  • Propane gas cylinders (small hand-held or larger)
  • Swimming pool chemicals

Serviceable and repairable bikes, as well as bike parts and accessories, are being accepted. Donated bicycles will be donated to the non-profit Bikes for the World. A $10 donation per bike is being requested to offset shipping charges.

Small metal items like pots, pans, tools, pipes, and venetian blinds can also be dropped off.

Below is a list of prohibited items.

  • Asbestos
  • Explosives and ammunition
  • Freon
  • Medical wastes
  • Prescription medications
  • Radioactive materials
  • Smoke detectors
  • Business and commercial waste

Organizers asking residents to pack vehicles in reverse order of drop-off — electronics first, then household hazard materials, and, last for easy access, metals and bicycles.

“It’ll make unloading much faster. And be sure to check with neighbors for opportunities to combine loads and save trips,” the county wrote.

About 95,000 pounds of household hazardous materials were collected at last spring’s E-CARE event, after 77,000 pounds were collected at the October 2021 event.

The event is open to Arlington residents, so bring identification or, as the county e-mail jokes, “be prepared to name every County Manager in order starting with good ol’ 1, Roy Braden.”

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