New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Joe Martens today announced that the Spring 2015 CleanSweepNY collection program will take place during the week of April 6 and will target the lower Hudson River Valley counties in DEC’s Region 3. 

CleanSweepNY provides an opportunity to ensure proper disposal of unwanted or obsolete pesticides and other chemicals, including elemental mercury, to help provide a healthy and sustainable New York. The collection will be conducted in Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester counties.  Pre-registration is required with a registration deadline of March 26.

“Every container of old, unwanted or outdated pesticides that is turned in this week helps keep these materials out of conventional waste streams and municipal landfills,” Commissioner Martens said.  “I am grateful for the efforts of DEC staff and the state Department of Transportation who coordinate these collection days. I encourage farmers, businesses and institutions in the region to take advantage of this opportunity to reduce potential environmental impacts in our communities and help us build a toxic-free future.”

CleanSweepNY is an Environmental Benefit Project administered by the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT).  CleanSweepNY was established with funds from several enforcement settlements in DEC’s Pest Management program. The collections are scheduled and organized by DEC with the collaboration of New York State Department of Transportation (DOT), which provides sites in the targeted DEC regions for the collection of these unwanted chemical materials. The program is supported by Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Agricultural Container Recycling Council, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, New York Farm Bureau and related grower associations.

CleanSweepNY is directed at agricultural and non-agricultural professional pesticide applicators, schools and business users such as golf courses, cemeteries and marinas.  CleanSweepNY services are not available to homeowners.  Additionally, empty, triple-rinsed HDPE (#2) plastic pesticide containers will be collected for recycling.

The Spring 2015 CleanSweepNY collection event will be the 18th since the program's inception in 2002. To date, CleanSweepNY has collected and disposed of more than 1.35 million pounds of chemical wastes, including more than 850 pounds of elemental mercury, and collected more than 4,200 plastic pesticide containers for recycling that would otherwise have been disposed of in municipal waste landfills.

For more information on CleanSweepNY, visit http://www.cleansweepny.org or call toll free: 1-877-SWEEPNY (877-793-3769).