The Lee County Solid Waste Division has announced it is anticipating its 10,000th customer this week at the Household Chemical Waste Drop Off Facility at 6441 Topaz Court in Fort Myers. As of Monday evening, the division reported the count was at 9,870 residents.

Since the opening of the permanent Household Chemical Waste Drop-Off Facility on April 2, 2008, the center has seen on average 50 residents per day come and dispose of household chemical waste.

The Topaz facility was establish to replace the three collection events held Saturdays at Page Field and local residents quickly adapted to the permanent facility.

The 10,000th customer will receive a $20 gift card courtesy of Covanta Energy Inc., the operator of Lee County’s Waste-To-Energy facility on Buckingham Road in East Fort Myers.

Since the facility opened, a total of 542,137 pounds of household chemical waste has been brought to the facility. Of that amount 506,297 pounds were recycled.The 35,840 pounds that could not be recycled was sent to EPA and DEP approved disposal facilities.

In addition to household chemical waste, generally categorized as flammable, poison, corrosive, reactive and oxidizer, the facility also accepts obsolete electronic devices.

Visit us on the Web at www.leegov.com/solidwaste