The Ecology Action Center saw a drop in collections during this year's household hazardous waste event, but organizers believe a change in the format was successful.
Residents dropped off 16,242 gallons of hazardous waste and more than 17,500 pounds of electronic waste at the one-day event at Rivian in Normal in September.
Both numbers are down from 2017 collections, but EAC director Michael Brown said moving to an appointment-based system might have deterred some from participating.
“This can at least be partially attributed to some hesitation on the part of local residents to the transition to the new appointment-based system,” Brown said in a report distributed to the media recapping the event.
Brown said the appointments sharply reduced wait times, which he said should boost participation rates in the coming years.
“The great success of this system demonstrated by negligible wait times for the event throughout the day should help return participation rates to normal within the next couple of HHW events,” the report said.
The collection brought more than 1,000 cars representing nearly 1,700 households.
The Ecology Action Center raised $34,000 for the collection from private donations and received $140,000 from Bloomington, Normal and McLean County governments. The solid waste agency reports the event cost $155,000, leaving the remaining $19,000 for a household hazardous waste fund reserves for future needs.
EAC said nearly 80 volunteers worked more than 300 hours for the event.
The agency previously sponsored household hazardous waste collections in 2012, 2015 and 2017. It has not announced dates for future collections.
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