Santa Rosa County to hold Amnesty Day

Santa Rosa County will host Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Amnesty Day on Sat., Oct. 8 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Santa Rosa County South Service Center, 5819 Gulf Breeze Parkway in Midway. This event offers residents the opportunity to dispose of HHW at no charge without having to drive to the Central Landfill in Milton. Additionally, up to five regular car or truck tires per vehicle are being accepted for the first time at the event.

Residents will be required to remove items from their vehicles. Remember, HHW items can cause injury if handled improperly. These items will usually have a warning or cautionary statement on their labels, such as flammable, corrosive, poison or toxic. The following items will be accepted and should never be disposed of with household garbage:

up to five gallons each of:
- antifreeze, oil and gasoline
- paint and solvents
- lubricants and grease
- pesticides and fertilizers
- pool cleaners and household cleaners
oil filters
batteries and battery backups
five-gallon propane bottles
computers and typewriters
printers, copiers, fax machines, and DVD/DVR players
fluorescent light bulbs
fire extinguishers

“At our Amnesty Day in March, we collected almost 40,000 pounds of waste products with close to 2,500 pounds of it returned to our ‘free’ shelf which is disbursed back to the public for reuse,” said Ron Hixon, director of environmental operations at Santa Rosa County. “The cost of providing HHW amnesty service to the citizens would have been $18,086, but fortunately a 75 percent grant co-op combined with a rebate on electronics recycling brought our payment down to $3,862.”

Conditionally exempt small quantity generators (small businesses, schools and growers, etc.) may dispose of hazardous waste at a reduced rate. CESQG waste is accepted by appointment only. Call (850) 981-7135 by12:00 p.m. on Friday, October 7 to schedule a drop-off time.

Santa Rosa residents can dispose of HHW and up to five regular tires per vehicle at no charge year-round, Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the HHW center at the entrance to the Central Landfill, 6337 Da Lisa Road in Milton.

Amnesty Day is made possible by Santa Rosa County in cooperation with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Okaloosa County Environmental Office. For more information, contact (850) 981-7135.