The Solid Waste Association of North America awarded the County of Wellington a Silver Award of Excellence for their Mobile Household Hazardous Waste Depot
The county launched the depot in June 2016 to expand convenience to all residents.
It travels throughout municipalities in the county accepting hazardous materials.
That eliminated the need for special event days and multiple permanent depots.
“Having a Mobile HHW Depot is a simple, flexible and cost-effective solution for a county with so many rural communities,” said Warden Dennis Lever. “The innovative programme has significantly improved diversion services for our communities, giving residents access to full HHW drop-off services for approximately 150 days a year, compared to the seven days a year that were previously available through HHW event days.”
The unique Mobile HHW Depot service model has generated a lot of interest from other municipalities and from consultants across North America and has been recognized as a system that can easily be replicated in other communities.
“Bringing HHW drop-off opportunities into each municipality for extended periods of time has been a convenient addition and has significantly increased participation in our HHW services,” said Solid Waste Services Chair, Councillor Don McKay.
“We are very pleased with the results of this programme as it continues to increase diversion of HHW materials from landfill. To raise awareness of the Mobile HHW programme, we are currently giving out orange boxes to users of the service, so that they can safely store hazardous materials before they visit our Depot," said Das Soligo, manager of Solid Waste Services with the county.
Details on the County’s Mobile HHW Depot can be found at www.wellington.ca/hhw.