IDOA offers ‘Clean Sweep’ pesticide collection for central, southwestern Illinois region

Program is offered to safely dispose of unwanted agricultural pesticides

Illinois residents can dispose of unwanted agrichemicals for free this year through the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s (IDOA) agricultural pesticide “Clean Sweep” program.

IDOA will host ten sites in central and southwestern Illinois.

“Clean Sweep” collections have been scheduled for Bond, Clinton, Fayette, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery and St. Clair counties.

The collection, which rotates among Illinois counties is open to farmers, retired farmers, nursery owners, private pesticide applicators, structural pest control applicators and landowners who inherited unwanted agricultural pesticides with their property.

“The Department is able to provide the service free of charge thanks to a grant obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” said Bureau Chief of Environmental Programs Brad Beaver. “We encourage folks to take advantage of this programs for two main reasons. Disposing of agrichemicals when done by individuals on their own can often be costly, so utilizing our ‘Clean Sweep’ program can save our farmers some money. Secondly, the state of Illinois, not the program participant, will assume liability for the proper disposal of all materials collected.”

Participants must register the products they plan to dispose of by July 28.

Registration is required to give the waste disposal contractor time to prepare for the different kinds of materials that will need to be handled. Forms can be obtained either by calling the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Hotline at 1-800-641-3934, on the IDOA website or by visiting one of the sponsors listed.

Completed forms should be mailed or faxed to the Illinois Department of Agriculture at Clean Sweep Program, Illinois Department of Agriculture, State Fairgrounds, P.O. Box 19281, Springfield, IL, 62794-9281. The fax number is (217) 524-4882.

Participants will be sent a reservation card indicating the date, time and location of their collection.

The “Clean Sweep” program began in 1990 in Illinois. Since the inception of the program, the Department has held 53 collection events through the state and collected 648,255 pounds of material from 2,256 participants.