Clean Sweep scheduled for June 4 at Colfax Fairgrounds
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
COLFAX — Colfax Solid Waste & Recycling will be holding a Clean-Sweep event for hazardous waste at the Colfax Fairgrounds on June 4 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
All residents who live in the municipalities that are part of the Colfax Responsible Unit are eligible to participate in the Clean Sweep event.
Members of the Colfax RU include all residents in the Village of Colfax and the Towns of Colfax, Grant, Otter Creek, Tainter and Wilson, along with the Village of Elk Mound and the Towns of Elk Mound and Spring Brook.
State law requires all municipalities to either be their own Responsible Unit for recycling or to join another municipality’s Responsible Unit.
Residents must have their solid waste and recycling permit displayed in their vehicle to participate in the Clean Sweep for free.
People who live outside of the Colfax RU can participate in the Clean Sweep by paying a fee of $100, which also entitles the permit holder to use either the Colfax collection site or the Elk Mound collection site for solid waste and recycling for the remainder of the year.
The Colfax and Elk Mound collection sites are open Wednesdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Colfax RU has been awarded a recycling grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in the amount of $25,214.24.
Acceptable items
The following acceptable items can be brought to the Clean Sweep:
• Automotive — antifreeze, brake fluid, degreasers and gasoline.
• Cleaners — concrete cleaners, polish and spot removers, and swimming pool chemicals.
• Other materials — aerosol cans (not empty), acids and bases, rodent bait and mercury.
• Paints and solvents — oil and lead paint (no latex paint), oil-based stains and polyurethanes, adhesives, and turpentines, strippers and thinners. Latex paint is not allowed at the Clean Sweep because it is not considered to be hazardous waste. If you have old cans of latex paint, take the cover off and let the cans dry out, and then they can be disposed of with your other household solid waste on the regular days that the collection sites are open.
• Pesticides — insecticides, fertilizer with weed killer, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides.
Unacceptable items
The following items cannot be brought to the Clean Sweep but can be brought to the collection sites at Colfax or Elk Mound on the regularly scheduled days the sites are open: appliances, batteries, bulbs, gas tanks (propane, helium, spray foam and others), electronics, latex paint, sharps (which cannot be disposed of in the trash and must be in an appropriate sharps container), smoke detectors, tires, used oil and fire extinguishers.
Unused medications also cannot be brought to the Clean Sweep, and if you have unused medication to dispose of, the Colfax Police Department and the Elk Mound Police Department collect unwanted medications all year long, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Colfax Police Department is located at 613 Main Street in Colfax.
The Elk Mound Police Department is located at E206 Menomonie Street in Elk Mound.
Medications are prohibited from being placed in the trash.
Other items that are not allowed at the Clean Sweep and are not accepted at the collection sites include explosives (such as ammunition and fireworks) and medical waste.
Some of the items listed above that cannot be brought to the Clean Sweep but that are accepted at the collection sites have a fee associated with bringing them to the collection sites.
The fee schedule for solid waste and recycling is located on the Village of Colfax website at www.villageofcolfaxwi.org/solid-waste-recycling.
You also should have received the fee list when you received your solid waste and recycling permits last December.
Questions?
If you have questions that cannot be answered by visiting the Village of Colfax’s website about the Clean Sweep on Tuesday, June 4, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Colfax Fairgrounds, you can call the clerk-treasurer’s office in Colfax at 715-962-3311, or e-mail clerktreasurer@villageofcolfax.org.
The Colfax Fairgrounds is located at 831 East Railroad Avenue in Colfax.
