Mobile shredding at Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day

Household Hazardous Waste Collection season kicks off in Gary

Contributed By:The 411 News

Blue skies and temperatures close to the 80s welcomed visitors to the Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Green Awareness Day in Gary, on Saturday, May 5. For the next six months, through October, the Lake County Solid Waste Management District will share its resources with towns and cities across the county encouraging residents to reduce waste, recycle and protect the environment.

Drive-through lanes made it easy for visitors dropping off car batteries, cans of paints, electronics, exchanging an old gas can for a new one, and getting paper shredded.

Gary is alone in Lake County towns and cities offering a comprehensive recycling program.

The city’s recycling center at 900 Madison provides paper shredding, an electronics waste drop off center, recycling of clothing and other textiles. “We prefer to recycle well-worn clothing and textiles that won’t be reused. For gently-used clothing and textiles, take them to the Goodwill or Salvation Army,” urged recycling director Mattiee Fitzgerald-Williams.

Gary also has two drop off centers for tires.

Two agencies manage recycling of Gary’s water resources – the Storm Water Management District and Department of Green Urbanism. Their latest project is the parking lot and rain garden on the site of the demolished Sheraton Hotel, next to City Hall.

The parking lot is made of porous concrete, allowing rainwater to soak into the soil instead of staying on the surface. When rainwater remains on pavements, it collects debris, soils, and oils from motor vehicles. Those contaminants are drawn into the city’s combined sewer system, adding pollution, eventually stressing rivers and Lake Michigan, the region’s main clean water source.

Brenda Scott-Henry, director of Green Urbanism said the parking lot and rain garden is under monitoring by the U.S. Geological Survey to see the effectiveness of the greenspace’s infrastructure. “City Hall doesn’t have downspouts. They’re all underground.”

After monitoring is complete, Scott-Henry said more activities will be held on the site.

A second greenspace is being planned for Buchannan Street near the Indiana Toll Road exit. Scott-Henry said residents have complained about high speed traffic and not being able to walk around. “We have a lot of city-owned vacant property in the area. Construction will begin next year using similar green infrastructure design to create a green gateway.”

The next Lake County Household Hazardous Waste Collection day will be held Saturday, June 2 in Hobart.


The Iron Mountain mobile shredder operators Ricardo Gonzales and Greg Robinson, and Gladys Goudeaux, who had a box of paper shredded


Gary Community Schools Corp. and Dept. of Green Urbanism tables at Saturday’s Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day. L-r, school employees Dora Walker, Tennile Foster, and Brenda Scott-Henry, Dept. of Green Urbanism

Story Posted:05/09/2018