Landfill Equipment and Truck Road-E-O Participants

Representatives from the Dalton-Whitfield Solid Waste Authority congratulate employees who participated in the Landfill Equipment and Truck Road-E-O organized by the Georgia Chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) on May 12th in Dublin, GA.

Pictured are Harvey Levitt, Operations Manager, Garnell Talley who placed 2nd in Dozer, Chad Shook who placed 3rd in Front Loader, Marlon Cole who placed 1st in Track Hoe and was the Overall Winner in Equipment, Jeremy Flood who placed 2nd in Roll-Off, and Norman Barashick, Executive Director. Cole will participate in the 2010 International SWANA Road-E-O competition later this year.

Community Pride Day on April 17

DALTON, GA -  Community Pride Day during the Great American Cleanup will be on Saturday, April 17 from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.  Community Pride Day facilitates Spring Cleaning by allowing Whitfield county residents to dispose of bulky items and electronics without paying disposal fees at select drop-off locations.  The Old Dixie Landfill Convenience Center is the Main Location for this event.  Community Locations include three middle schools, Westside Middle School, Eastbrook Middle School, and North Whitfield Middle School.

All four locations will be accepting bulky items for disposal and electronics for recycling.  Bulky items include furniture, household equipment, and appliances.  Electronics include computers, digital cameras, cell phones, video game systems, and televisions.  Only one television per vehicle will be accepted.

The Old Dixie Landfill Convenience Center is the only location accepting Household Hazardous Waste (HHW).  Items include household pesticides, pool chemicals, varnish and latex paints.  For a complete list of HHW please visit www.DWSWA.org or call 706-277-2545.  Household Hazardous Waste is typically accepted at the Old Dixie Landfill Convenience Center on the third Saturday of the month from 7 am to 2 pm.

Community Pride Day is open to residents of Whitfield County only.  No business, commercial, construction or demolition waste is accepted.  Tires are not included in this event and should be disposed of at a Convenience Center for a minimal $2 fee.  No tires or HHW will be accepted at the schools.

Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful, the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Authority, and Whitfield County Public Works organized this annual event.  For more information or to volunteer, call Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful at 706-226-6211, visit our website www.keepdaltonwhitfieldbeautiful.org, or e-maillswafford@dwswa.org.

Submitted by the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Authority.

"Bring One For The Chipper" Event Held at Home Depot In Dalton

By: Kristen Johnson, News Channel 12

One North Georgia organization wants to make sure Christmas Trees don't end up in the landfill.

For the last 19 years, "Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful" hosted its annual recycling event.

"Bring one for the chipper" was held at the Home Depot in Dalton.

By Saturday afternoon more than 80 trees were brought by the location.

Organizers say the free service allows residents to send their trees back to nature as mulch or animal habitats.

"I'm very happy to see that the community is interested in recycling and environmentalism in general and it's just great to see how people still feel positive about helping the earth and doing something right for the environment," Liz Swafford, Executive Director of Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautfield said.

In return for their tree, participants received the choice between a seedling or packet of seeds.

And don't worry if you didn't get a chance to drop off your tree, the city of Dalton collects trees on the curb.

Whitfield County residents can visit one of four convenience centers.

Public works employees and Dalton State College students also helped with Saturday's event.

Click here for video.

Household hazardous waste facility marks 10 years

Originally Published in the Dalton Daily Citizen

June 20 marked the 10th anniversary of the household hazardous waste facility operated by the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Management Authority.

The authority developed the first permanent household hazardous waste collection facility in the state. More than 250,000 pounds of household hazardous waste has been managed through the facility.

Prior to 1999, the authority held an annual collection event for household hazardous waste. The Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Task Force identified a need for a permanent facility and more frequent collections. With a $50,000 grant from the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority, the local authority opened the first publicly owned and operated permanent household hazardous waste facility in the state.

The facility is open to residents of Whitfield County the third Saturday of each month and accepts leftover household products such as pesticides, old gasoline, batteries, paints and pool chemicals, to name a few. The facility has been used as the model for many communities around the state, but still remains the only facility like it in the state.

For more information regarding the proper management of household hazardous waste, call (706) 277-2545 or (706) 278-5001. 

The authority has announced its Independence Day holiday operating schedule for landfills and convenience centers:

• Friday — All locations open normal hours (7 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

• Saturday — All locations closed

• Monday — All locations open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

• Tuesday — All locations open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Westside location normally closed)

• Wednesday — All locations open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. (McGaughey Chapel location normally closed)

• Thursday — Normal operating days and hours resume

'E-waste' recycling Saturday in Dalton

Staff member at the recycling center loads a monitor into a gaylord box for electronic waste recycling collection.

By Charles Oliver
Daily Citizen News

Toss out that broken mouse in your desk drawer. Throw away that old printer you haven’t used in years.

The Dalton-Whitfield Regional Solid Waste Authority, Keep Dalton-Whitfield Beautiful and Atlanta Recycling Solutions are hosting an “e-waste” recycling event on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Home Depot parking lot off Shugart Road.

“We’ve had a big increase in people calling wanting to recycle their old electronics, so we are really doing this at the citizens’ request,” said Bridget Sanford, director of recycling programs for the solid waste authority.

Residents can bring old computers, fax machines, telephones, video games, copiers, digital cameras, VCRs, shredders, microwaves, calculators and other electronics and drop them off free of charge for recycling.

They can also bring TVs, but there will be a $10 charge to take those. Sanford said that’s the fee charged by the company that recycles electronics for the solid waste authority.

“That’s the only thing we have to charge for. TVs, there just isn’t enough recyclable material in there,” Sanford said.

Residents are asked not to bring smoke detectors, household appliances and car batteries.

If you can’t make it Saturday, don’t worry. Recyclable electronics can be dropped off Monday through Friday at the solid waste authority’s recycling center at 4189 Old Dixie Highway. Again, there’s no charge for computers and such, but there’s a $10 charge for old TVs.