on my grandfathers farm it was called “incineration” ..generally in old 55 gallon oil drum...or a 5 ft deep fire pit
I had a similar experience. I had some low-level “hazardous waste” and my town was collecting it. The process was slow, they made me feel like a criminal (?????) and it cost me an arm and a leg. Horrible little Nazi bureaucrats.
I just slip the stuff into the trash now. Screw ‘em.
Reads simular to the beginning of the song Alice’s Restaurant.
When we got the recycling container and I asked about how many rechargeable batteries we were putting into the recycling container, my wife gave me that same look I have been getting for 39 years, and the question, "What do you mean, rechargeable?"
"Read the container cover," I said. "They don't take non-rechargeable batteries."
"So what am I supposed to do with the non-rechargeable batteries I brought with me?"
She did not like the answer, so now we have a bag of A, AA, AAA, and C batteries sitting on the dining room table. When I suggested that she put the non-rechargeable, non-recyclable batteries on the bed in the basement where she stores all the old clothes that should have been taken to Goodwill two years and haven't, I got that look again.
Somehow I just knew it would all end up being my fault again.
In my county recyclables were being dutifully collected but were just being disposed of like ordinary garbage. The market had collapsed so actual recycling was no longer efficient. The green gangsters threw a fit because the failure of the program was kept secret from the public who kept washing, flattening and segregating their recyclables thinking they would be rewarded in eco-heaven. People’s expectations of government run solutions are hilarious.
That’s not a recycling program. It’s a waste of time and money.
All my electronics will get put in the dumpster from this point forward.
Over the years I had collected a whole lot of those CFL bulbs because I didn’t know how to dispose of them (I remember hearing the rather ridiculously long procedure for doing so, so I gave it a pass). Finally, after amassing over a hundred of these little babies I found out that you could turn them in at any Lowe’s. I packed my two shopping bags full and headed out. There, I discovered that you had to individually wrap each bulb in a thin plastic baggy and drop them in the recycling container (with its requisite Dropbox handle and drawer. I was there for about an hour fumbling with baggies and bulbs (nice name for a recycling center).
Just lovely...
I went through a local Leadership program where, at the conclusion, they suggested you get active on a board. I ended up on the Keep Rio Rancho Beautiful Board.
We have a problem with people illegally dumping out on the mesa. They will leave old appliances, bags of yard waste, tires, just about anything.
We came up with the idea of a recycling center. Manned mostly by volunteers, with one city employee to oversee, it was supposed to be open four days a week - Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
It was very successful. People were dropping stuff off, recycling companies came around to pick it up. All was good.
The city employee started complaining about working Sundays, so they cut out the Sunday hours. Saturday was so busy, the staff was overwhelmed. The city, not the board, decided that Monday, Wednesday and Friday were better days.
Within a few months, no one was dropping stuff off. In my exit letter, I pointed out that most residents worked during the available hours and that some of the drop off in use of the center was due to the relief of pent up demand, but an ongoing program was needed.
The recycling center is now shut down.
The Mesa is once again being used to dump trash.
The only way to get rid of large items is to take them to the dump yourself, where they charge you by the pound. Residents get one free trip a month, but they have to bring a current water or electric bill to prove residency.
So now you have to have a truck, or a friend with a truck, get your item(s) into the truck, drive out to the dump, show your paperwork, drive up to the top of the dump, stand in ankle deep muck as you wrestle the items out of the truck, get said muck now stuck on your shoes in your friend’s truck, drive home, and clean the truck.
Or you can drive out onto the Mesa and dump it (illegally) for free.
I had five old concrete blocks that were part of a retaining wall. Each were about the size of a loaf of bread. And over the years they had become too cracked to be useful.
So I called my local municipality. How do I dispose of these blocks, I asked. We don’t take them, I was told. But a company about 10 miles away will.
I called that company. Sure, we’ll take them, the guy said. It’ll cost you $110. The guy then explained that state and federal regulations required him to test everything he accepted. Thus the $110.
Needless to say, my concrete blocks ended up elsewhere.
Just hide it in the regular trash and be done with it.