After holding Cleansweep one day collection events that served 62 of Florida’s 67 counties between December 2000 and May 2002, we retooled the program to offer free pick-up and disposal of cancelled, suspended and unusable pesticides.  There will no longer be collection events.  Now, a contractor will come to your site, package, transport and dispose of your cancelled, suspended and unusable pesticides.  Between January and June 2005, Operation Cleansweep provided this pickup and disposal service to 104 participants in 29 counties and collecting almost 83,000 pounds of cancelled, suspended and unusable pesticides for proper disposal.  We will continue to offer this pickup and disposal service statewide through June 2007.

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, with the help of county ag agents, county solid waste personnel, product dealers and trade associations, will collect names, addresses, quantities and types from participants and verify this information.  When we have a sufficient quantity of product in a defined area, we will dispatch the contractor to each participant’s farm or business facility to pick up the pesticides.  A flier provides details and instructions on how to sign up for this free pick-up service.  You may email either Robin Waddell of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or call toll-free at 877-851-5285 to sign up.  We expect to resume pick-up collection services in the fall of 2006.