BANGOR – Residents from 23 Greater Bangor communities will converge this weekend at the public works building on Maine Avenue, toting with them various forms of hazardous waste to be disposed of during the city’s annual hazardous waste collection day.

More than 200 permits have been issued in Bangor alone, according to Jerry Hughes of Bangor’s Public Works, and the city will continue issuing permits until as late as Friday, he said.

Collection day will run from 9 a.m.- 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1.

“It’s important that people realize that they do need a permit,” Hughes said Wednesday at the monthly meeting of the Bangor Recycling Committee. He also pointed out that without a permit, residents from participating communities will be charged a $10 fee on Saturday.

Each resident will be allowed to bring up to 15 gallons of household hazardous waste, along with one computer, one monitor, one keyboard and one television.

More information on what constitutes hazardous waste as well as which communities are participating is available online at www.bangormaine.gov/citynews.php.

“A big change this year is that we’re going to be bringing in people at the north gate and then curve people around the tarmac area,” Hughes said, noting that the idea is to get as much traffic as possible away from Maine Avenue and Union Street.

Onyx Environmental, a Massachusetts firm, will break down and recycle the components of the computers and other electronics. More than 1,000 participated in the collection last year. Refreshments will be provided throughout the day by Keep Bangor Beautiful.

In other news, the recycling committee announced an upcoming workshop for farmers and small businesses to learn about the benefits of composting.

The event, sponsored by the recycling committee, the Maine State Planning Office and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, will be held from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Bangor Community Center.

Anyone interested in attending should call Wendy Warren, Bangor’s environmental manager, at 992-4255 or e-mail her at wendy.warren@bgrme.org.