Recycling Company Makes HazMat Duty a Family Affair

One aspect of recycling not evident to most people, Ed Dawkins will tell you, is how it helps the economy along with the environment. Dawkins, vice president of the Livonia-based Environmental Recycling Group, knows this first hand.

When his company sets up for a municipal or county hazardous waste collection event, not only do his employees get paid extra for working on a Saturday, more than a dozen temporary workers get paid, too.

That's just what happened on Saturday during a Wayne County collection in Belleville, for which Dawkins was the contractor. The free event was aimed at helping people get ride of toxic, flammable or corrosive substances. Dawkins company handles four collections this year for Wayne County, and dozens of others for communities across the state.

“The more people who come, the better we do and the better for the environment,” Dawkins said.

Acceptable Hazardous Recyclables

Environmental Recycling Group collects a wide assortment of products, including household paints, stains, dyes, floor wax, floor care products, carpet cleaner, furniture polish, bathroom cleaners, stain removers, pharmaceutical waste (non-controlled substances only), solvents, nail polish, glue, fertilizer, lawn and garden chemicals, pesticides, antifreeze, motor oil, gasoline, automotive batteries and dry cell batteries, fluorescent bulbs, fire extinguishers, mercury fever thermometers, smoke detectors, computer monitors, printers, scanners, mice, keyboards, cell phones, fax machines, copiers, and televisions

Note: Although the Environmental Recycling Group accepts all these items, cities and townships may set limits on what they will pay to have collected. for collection dates and check for approveed or barred items first.

The company paid about 40 people, a mix of 25 employees and 15 family members and friends, to help on Saturday. The friends-and-family program has been a company tradition since 1984, said Dawkins, a Berkley resident. His father, Royal Oak resident Mike Dawkins, was among Saturday's helpers.

“When we use friends and family instead of temps, we find they are more productive and more courteous,” Dawkins said. He provides lunch, too, and recently made some changes to the meals, switching from pizza to granola trail mix, fresh fruits and cold-cut sandwiches. And, he said with a grin, “I’m getting a lot of grumbling about this --  I cut out the sodas.”

Instead, he provided water and sports drinks.

That was fine with Brittany Weiss, 24, and Alena Weiss, 28, both of Canton.

They wore heavy gloves and donned bright yellow aprons for the work, after arriving at 7 a.m. with their mom, Environmental Recycling Group employee Vicky Weiss, to help out for the seventh year in a row.

The sisters started assisting when they were Salem High School students. Now both are college graduates. Brittany, who went to Michigan State University for an animal science degree, is in school again, studying grooming; Alena, a structural engineer with the Detroit-based Smith Group, said she enjoys the weekend temp job, “because I spend time with family and I get outdoors.”

Brittany agreed and added that she likes meeting new people.

Dawkins said each friend or family who helps starts out unloading cars and is gradually trained to handle each type of hazardous waste and to stay safe in an area where forklifts are zipping around.

On Saturday, approximately 1,200 Wayne County residents delivered about 40 tons of refuse to the temporary collection site at Wayne County Community College District Western Campus in Belleville. The refuse will be sent to Environmental Recycling Group’s sister company in Bowling Green, Ohio, for processing, Dawkins said.

Wayne County’s next household hazardous waste collection is June 18, but the hours and site have not yet been confirmed. Environmental Recyclin Group is contracted to do this year.

For information on how to dispose of hazardous household waste, contact the Wayne County Resource Recovery Coordinator at 734-326-3936 or visit the county’s website.