BETHEL — On Saturday, Sept. 21, from 9 to 11:30 a.m., residents in the Bethel area will be able to bring their unwanted poisons, pesticides and oil-based paints to the Household Hazardous Waste Collection at the SAD 44 Bus Barn.

Residents with household chemicals that have been sitting under kitchen sinks or in basements and garages for many years can be brought to the collection to be held at the corner of Main Street and Cross Street near the railroad tracks.

For the past decade, the Towns of Bethel, Greenwood and Woodstock, along with Hanover and Newry, have worked with Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments to hold a Household Hazardous Waste collection day. This is the best and safest way to dispose of the potentially hazardous wastes generated by households. Others participating in this event include residents from Hartford, West Paris, and Waterford (including Albany Township, Mason Township and Stoneham).

These events are part of the ongoing Western Maine Environmental Depot Collection Program run by AVCOG in conjunction with municipalities in the AVCOG region and a private, qualified contractor.

At this time latex paint is not accepted, but under a new law, the paint manufacturers will be setting up a program to finance the collection and recycling or disposal of paint by 2015. Until then, latex paint should be dried out and put in the regular trash.

Oil-based paints, stains, and varnishes are accepted at HHW collections.

Residents of towns participating in the Environmental Depot HHW collection program can use the Depot or any collection event in their region at no cost. Participating municipalities include most of the towns in Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford Counties. For a list of participating communities or for more information, visit www.avcog.org, call 783-9186 or check with your town office.

Residents from other communities can bring waste to the Depot at a cost of $28 for up to five gallons. AVCOG operates the program in conjunction with EPI, a licensed hazardous waste hauler that ships wastes to a variety of out-of-state recycling and disposal locations for proper handling.

Approximately 1,100 gallons of hazardous waste were collected at last year’s event. Also, a record total of 12,340 gallons were collected at the Depot as well as satellite collections.

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