When news of Westchester County’s Shredmobile first hit the region and country last month, hundreds of Westchester residents cleaned out their attics, basements and dens, bringing boxes of old bank statements and other documents containing private information to the county’s first shred-a-thon at its Household Chemical Clean-Up Day event on Nov 3-4 at Playland in Rye. A total of 385 households queued up in long lines for the shredding of 6.7 tons or about 13,400 pounds of their papers.

“We are overwhelmed by this huge response,” said County Executive Andy Spano. “And to make sure we accommodate as many people as possible, we are bringing in a second truck to handle the huge load in a reasonable amount of time.”

The county’s Shredmobile handles up to 800 pounds of paper an hour. The additional shredder truck can shred up to 5,000 pounds of paper an hour and store 5 tons of shredded paper.

This free public service is intended for the use of residents to shred their personal documents. Papers from businesses or commercial enterprises will not be accepted. Residents should also be prepared to wait as long lines, which occurred at the last event, are again expected this Saturday.

To speed up the process, residents must remove all metal clips, fasteners, binders, folders and hard covers and place the papers loosely in a box. Hard covers – cardboard or plastic covers on items such as ledger books, marble composition books and hard-cover books – are not acceptable. Residents may rip away pages from these hard cover books for shredding and throw the covers in their household trash. The event will be held rain or shine.

Besides papers for shredding, residents may bring other items normally accepted at Household Chemical Clean-Up Day events. These are:
• Properly labeled household chemicals including:
o Most automotive fluids – i.e., antifreeze, brake fluid, gasoline
o Flammable liquids – i.e., kerosene, butane, charcoal fluid, turpentine
o Metal, jewelry and furniture polishes and waxes; Wood preservatives
o Pesticides, insecticides, herbicides
o Photographic & swimming pool chemicals
• Cell phones
• Car tires – up to 10 tires accepted per household
• Fluorescent light bulbs
• Fire extinguishers
• Small propane tanks (1 and 2 pound tanks only)
• Rechargeable and button cell batteries
• Mercury – in their containers such as thermometers and thermostats
• TVs, computer monitors and computer towers

Items that are not accepted include oil and latex paint, motor oil, vehicle and non-rechargeable batteries, and 20 pound BBQ tanks. These items and many other special wastes can be disposed of in another way. For instance, residents can add kitty liter to oil or latex paint, air dry the mixture for a day or two, and once hardened, dispose of the paint with the garbage.

For more information on the proper disposal of special wastes, call the county’s Household Chemical Info Line at (914) 813-5425 or log on to www.westchestergov.com/envfacil