Glascock offers citizens a free day at the dump

In an effort to support the beautification of its communities and dissuade those who dump old furniture and trash illegally along dirt roads, Glascock County will be taking regularly paid items for free Saturday, April 1. 

From 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., or until the bins are full, workers at the Glascock County dump will be accepting pickup truck and trailer loads of household debris, broken furniture and residential waste free of charge for county residents.  

Glascock County’s Roads Superintendent Mike Lyons said the county has been holding these free dump days for around 10 years but he has only been involved the last three.  

“It helps citizens clean up their yards to make our community a better-looking place,” Lyons said. “And it gives people a break.” 

Normally, the county dump, located at 1776 Lyons Road, charges $5 for a pickup load, $10 for a trailer load and $10 for each mattress, box spring or piece of furniture. Bags of house hold trash are collected for free. Throughout the year large item site on Lyons road is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The county contracts with Waste Management to pick up the dumpsters throughout the county and the larger items which are collected in large metal bins. 

On trash amnesty day, the county schedules to have three extra drop-off containers available and Lyons said they usually fill those up. 

“This is a cost to the county tax payers of between $8,000 and $10,000 a year depending on the roll-off weights,” Lyons said. “It’s free for those dropping off items, but the county still has to cover it.”  

The county will also accept tires for a fee: $2 for a passenger vehicle tire, $6 for truck tires and $12 for agricultural vehicle tires. 

Citizens are asked to sort and recycle any cardboard or metal scraps. 

The county will not be accepting commercial contractor waste, shingles, asbestos siding, oil or yard debris.  

“We don’t have an inert landfill, so we cannot take limbs and leaves,” Lyons said. “Since COVID hit, we’ve noticed a big increase in the volume people are bringing items to the dump. I assume that with more people working from home and they’re around the house more.”