It’s trash to you but to criminals it is a gold mine.
What criminals can find in your waste cart could end up costing you well over $1,500 from identify theft.
That is the average cost individuals incur when they are the victims of ID theft.
It is why the City of Manteca is conducting a free drive-thru shredding event on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 8 a.m. to noon for City of Manteca residents only. No businesses can participate. Proof of residency is required. That can be a copy of a municipal utility bill or driver’s license.
It takes place at the 210 Wetmore St. location.
E-waste, TVs, printers and such will be accepted as well. Appliances and furniture are excluded.
You can also drop off up to nine passenger car tires or residence and mattresses at no charge.
Mattresses that won’t be accepted for recycling are water beds, futons, air mattresses, mattress toppers and those mattresses that are cut, damaged, wet or infected with bed bugs.
Personal documents will be accepted for shredding that are dropped off in cardboard boxes or plastic bags.
The line will be shut off at noon sharp. Anyone entering the line after the designated City of Manteca “last car” will be denied entry to the event.
The event started 19 years ago with the goal of giving citizens a chance to drop off personal documents that can be pilfered from waste carts on solid waste collection days and then used by criminals to commit identity theft.
Documents such as cancelled checks, billing statements, old tax forms, and even magazine labels and other mail that simply has a name and an address were being used to steal identities.
Paperwork stolen from blue carts still plays a significant role in ID theft today as does the stealing of mail despite the shift to paperless documents. Police have noted criminals often pay $25 for a bag of such material making household and business documents that are tossed potential source of money for drug users and unscrupulous homeless people who rifle through carts and dumpsters.
Other recycling opportunities
offered by City of Manteca
The city has other free recycling services available.
*Electronic waste such as TVs, computers, printers, microwaves, phones and such can be dropped off Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Solid Waste Division office on Wetmore Street across from the water tower.
*Medical sharps as well as used batteries such as A, AA, AAA, C, and D are also accepted at the Solid Waste Division office on Wetmore Street Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Used light bulbs can be taken to the Manteca Home Depot store.
As for unwanted or expired medication, if you are unable to take them to the police department’s lobby drop box, there is another safe way of disposing of them. You can also drop them off at other locations such as the pharmacy at Safeway and Kaiser medical Officers. Both have drop-off bins.
Take a zip lock plastic bag, empty pills into the bag, pour in either milk or kitty litter, and then smash the contents until it turns into a paste.
The zip lock bag of paste can then be tossed into the garbage.
It is illegal to flush prescriptions and over the counter drugs down the toilet or simply throw them into a garbage can.
You can also secure a free bin once a year for curbside pickup. For more details contact the solid waste division at (209) 456-8440 between 6 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. They will send you the proper forms to fill out.
The costs for staging the Shred It events as well as once a year bins are covered by solid waste fees paid each month by residents and businesses.
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
