Another successful Detox Your Home event held in October saw almost three tonnes of unwanted toxic chemicals collected. This included a highly toxic Schedule X chemical that required special handling for safe disposal due to the risk it posed to site workers.
The Detox Your Home chemist identified the Schedule X pesticide, which was used to fumigate rabbit warrens but is being phased out as an approved chemical in Australia. The chemical was safely wrapped and placed in an air-tight container ready for transport to the processing facility.
More common household and garden chemicals were among the 2,908kg of chemicals collected, including:
- 1,361kg of flammable liquids (petrol, diesel, kerosene, methylated spirits, citronella, hand sanitiser etc).
- 545kg of weed killer, inspect sprays, rose dust, ant rid, mosquito coils, rat poison etc.
- 181kg of aerosol cans of paint, inspect spray, and solvents.
- 51kg of photographic chemicals.
- 68kg of mystery chemicals, such as liquids and powders stored in unmarked bottles and tins.
The most unusual items dropped off were several jars of preserved laboratory specimens in formaldehyde from a former veterinary practice.
"Thank you to the community for supporting this event and bringing in your chemicals to be safely disposed of", said Cr Liz Pattison.
"And thank you to Sustainability Victoria for running the event. I know these events take a lot of work to put on, so it's nice to see so many people playing their part to keep these chemicals out of the waste stream and our waterways."
All the chemicals were taken to a processing facility in Melbourne. A team of chemists sorted them into the appropriate recovery or disposal pathways. Acids are then neutralised, flammable liquids are reused as a blended fuel, and chemically inactive liquids are treated.
