Some people may remember past years when they could dispose of appliances and tires for free at the Gunflint Transfer Station during an annual clean-up event sponsored by Cook County. This year, the county will not be hosting the event.
Because of budget constraints and the fact that the county no longer owns the transfer station after its sale to Pederson Disposal, the Cook County Solid Waste Committee recommended to the county board that it discontinue the event. Solid Waste Officer Tim Nelson said some counties host such an event only once every five years. A memo from Nelson to the commissioners recommends that the county continue to host spring clean-up events periodically.
Appliances can still be disposed of at the Gunflint Transfer Station for a price of $20 or $25 for larger appliances such as refrigerators. Tire disposal starts at $5 for regular-size car tires.
The county will conduct waste electronics collections this year, one at the Tofte Transfer Station on Saturday, June 13 and another in Grand Marais yet to be scheduled. At each collection, some items will be collected for free and some will be collected for a small fee.
The county will also host hazardous waste collections from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturday, June 13 and Saturday, September 19 at the Cook County Recycling Center. No fees are collected for hazardous waste.
Nelson wrote, “This year all of the recycling materials markets have seen a substantial decline in redemption values….”
Leave a Reply