Iowa trash-collection experts say the holidays may pose special challenges.
Tony Colosimo runs Artistic Waste Services, a major traffic collection agency in Iowa, and he says if you got a new computer or other electronic equipment, you should probably wait and ask for advice before throwing out the old ones. Most cities have programs for electronic recycling, so call your local government or waste hauler and ask how to dispose of that old computer.
Amy Horst with Metro Waste Authority in Polk County says the 23 communities they serve in central Iowa produce a lot of material so there are alternatives for where to dump it all. People who have an old television, computer or other electronics to dispose of may throw it in the garbage as she says “unfortunately there are no rules and regulations” telling them not to do that. Still, she says there are more environmentally conscious ways to recycle them, so people are welcome to take those to the household hazardous-waste facility that’s in Bondurant.
Any product you’d find under the sink, she says, probably shouldn’t go into the garbage. That includes labels saying “caution,” or words like hazardous, warning or toxic, mean that product shouldn’t be tossed into the trash.
Other Iowa communities operate centers or hold certain days of the year for the disposal of dangerous things like bug spray, paint and other items that would be bad environmental news at the dump.