Union cleanup day Saturday offers residents chance to dump clutter

Union residents will get a one-day chance to clear out clutter Saturday, May 9, when the city’s annual spring cleanup runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Public Works Shop, 61323 Highway 203, next to the gun club. City staff will be stationed at the entrance to direct traffic, and the city says unloading will stop once the boxes are full.

The drop-off is set up for the bulky items that are hard to haul away during a normal week. Union is accepting yard debris, electronics, tires without rims, and household items such as appliances, lawn mowers, furniture and mattresses. Tires are limited to four per household this year, a tighter cap than the eight-tire limit the city listed in 2023, when cleanup day also included bikes and outdoor kids’ toys.

The city is drawing a firm line on what will not be taken. Household garbage, roofing shingles, hazardous waste such as paint or chemicals, ashes and batteries are not accepted. Residents are also being asked to separate items by type before arriving, a step meant to speed unloading and keep traffic moving through the site.

Union has used the same spring cleanup format in past years, with Saturday hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and May dates that have become familiar to residents. The structure gives households a local place to dump accumulated clutter while helping the city keep trash out of yards, ditches and vacant lots as warmer weather brings more outdoor cleanup projects.

The event also fits into a larger set of rules for hazardous materials. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality says household hazardous waste should not go in the garbage, on the ground or into storm drains because improper disposal can contaminate water and air. The agency says much of that material is recycled, reused or burned for fuel recovery after collection, with the rest shipped to a hazardous waste landfill in Arlington, Oregon. DEQ also requires local governments to seek approval for household hazardous waste collection events at least four months before the proposed date, which is one reason Union’s cleanup day is carefully controlled rather than treated as a free-for-all drop-off.