People have been hearing rumors about the recycling and hazardous waste programs going through some changes this spring, so here is the latest!

For many years the Department of Agriculture has been responsible for the collection of farm pesticides. Their collections were held once every other year and often not publicized as well as our local programs. With the new department contracts in place, they have agreed to pay for pesticides we collect and also pay for our household pesticide lab packs, some advertising expenses and packing materials. This was huge as our program could not otherwise afford this program without assurance of reimbursement.

One issue that farmers need to note is that registration is required before we accept agriculture pesticides. Unlike households, many farm ag chemicals are packaged in larger containers and a farmer often has larger volumes than we normally handle.

For this reason we need to know how many lab packs to bring and the correct type of Department of Transportation labels. A two-minute call to our office at 377-5186 the day beforehand is all that is required. We do not want to send anyone home with their pesticides if we are unprepared to label, inventory and lab pack the materials brought to us. The DOT requirements for us to haul on the highways is heavily regulated so having the proper equipment is crucial to our program. Hopefully in the future, the registration will not be such an important issue.

Freeborn County is the only recycling program in the area that does not have an every-other-week curbside collection. Since 1989 we have collected curbside recycling on a twice-monthly schedule. We are finally making the change in May to every-other-week. The collection day will not change. If your recycling day has always been Tuesday, it will continue to be Tuesday and so on.

In the first month, May, you will not notice any change in the service since the first four weeks of the month fall exactly on the same collection schedule you would have otherwise received.

In coming weeks we will begin distribution of the schedule calendars and calendar stickers so you can keep track of your week. We will also have the information posted on the Freeborn County Web site and calendars sent to the cities throughout the county to be posted for viewing. Be certain to check the next issue of Community News magazine the end of April. It will contain extra calendar stickers and additional schedule calendars.

To start with in May if your neighborhood has been a first and third week you are now a yellow week and if you have been receiving curbside recycling service on the second and fourth week you are now a green week. Knowing the color of your route will be the key to knowing what week the recycling truck will be in your neighborhood.

Another source of information about all solid waste and recycling programs is to check the Freeborn County Web site or call our office at 377-5186. The Web site is www.co.freeborn.mn.us.

Randy Tuchtenhagen is the Freeborn County Solid Waste Officer.