Neither the Fillmore County Resource Recovery Center nor the Fillmore County Recycling Center are accepting burn barrels for disposal. Recently, there has been a misunderstanding that we will, but that is not correct. We do not want them, we will not accept them, and we have no place to store them or dispose of them.
If you are using a burn barrel or burn your garbage in a pit of some sort, perhaps you should consider a different method of garbage disposal. If you are burning garbage, you’re making poison… poison in the environment that none of us want or need.
The makeup of garbage has changed in the last century. Most of the garbage 50 or 60 years ago was untreated paper or wood, and when it was burned, it was relatively harmless. Not so today. Today’s garbage contains plastics, dyes, and chemicals such as lead, mercury, arsenic, chlorine, nickel, and cadmium that release extremely hazardous toxins into the air when burned. These chemicals settle on our soil, water, and plants, and sooner or later enter the food chain, getting into the food we eat or the milk we drink. Backyard garbage burning is now the largest source of dangerous dioxins, known to be cancer causing materials.
Burning garbage has been illegal in Minnesota since the 1980s. There are burn barrels made for the purpose of burning leaves, twigs, and small branches, and other yard waste, but these are not meant for burning household garbage.
Garbage burns at a lower temperature than most fires. Very little oxygen is burned and a lot of smoke is produced. This causes toxic substances to be released and these potential pollutants become part of the air and plants at ground level. As we breathe, these poisons enter our bodies.
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has stated that smoke created by backyard garbage burning especially affects people with sensitive respiratory systems, as well as children and the elderly. Exposure to smoke can also increase the risk of heart disease, cause rashes, nausea and headaches.
U.S. EPA research shows that burn barrels are the number one source of dioxin in the United States. Just one burn barrel can produce as much or more than a full-scale municipal waste combustor burning 200 tons per day.
There are much better ways to get rid of most of your garbage.
An added note: Paper milk cartons are now being recycled. Please rinse them out. But……. the plastic caps on water bottles and pop bottles are not recyclable in Fillmore County at this time and should be included with your landfill garbage. The different melting temperatures of different plastics cause them to not mix well and will contaminate the vats of good, usable plastic.
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