Hazardous Waste Disposal

As homeowners in Harris County, Texas, we are often in a quandary as to how to dispose of old paint, chemicals, and other hazardous waste products found inside our homes and in our garages. At the same time, we also find items that should be recycled, but no place to recycle them since our curbside recycling program was terminated several years ago.

Alas, there is a program in place to both allow us to dispose of hazardous waste and recycle the newspapers, plastics and glass.

Harris county and the City of Houston have formed an alliance to solve these problems. This program is called the Harris County Household Hazardous Waste Program. If you own residential property or reside in the Westlake MUD1 District, you can call the Harris County Storm Water Quality Section at 713-290-3000 to obtain a voucher number to be able to use the City’s facilities to dispose of your hazardous waste and recyclables with the peace of mind that you are keeping our environment clean for our future generations.

Before getting your voucher number, let’s be sure that the items you wish to dispose of are actually hazardous waste, or will be accepted as recyclable.

The following items can and should be disposed of in your trash, without fear of polluting the environment. They are:

Heavy Duty and Alkaline batteries

Latex and oil based paints – to put paint into the trash, it must be 1” or less, not have a lid on the can and it must be thoroughly dried out, or mixed with kitty litter to dry. Waste management will not accept wet paint.

Cooking oil – Again no liquid will be accepted by Waste Management. Mix the oil with kitty litter or other drying agent before discarding it. Better yet, call some of the fast food chains locally and see if you can bring your liquid oil to them for recycling.

Empty pesticide containers – these should be disposed of in the trash. Bottles, cans, or metal containers that are not empty should be disposed of at the Hazardous Waste Center.

Empty gasoline or solvent containers - should be aired out thoroughly and put into the trash.

Hazardous Waste that should be properly disposed of include, but are not limited to the following items, and should be delivered to one of the approved waste collection sites as set forth by the City of Houston and other Harris County authorized collection sites.

Hazardous Waste Collection Events.

The following items can and should be disposed at these sites, without fear of polluting the environment. Hazardous products must have at least one of the following properties to be considered hazardous. They must be listed as (according to King County, Seattle, Washington, http://www.govlink.org/hazwaste/house/products/ ), either:

TOXIC:

Poisonous or causes long-term illness (such as cancer). Pesticides, paint thinners, many auto products and some cleaners are toxic. Look for words on the product label like:
 - "Harmful or fatal if swallowed."
 - "Use only in a well-ventilated area" (this means product fumes are toxic).

FLAMMABLE:

Burns easily. Paint, thinners and other solvents, and auto products are the most flammable home products. Look for words on the product label like:
 - "Do not use near heat or flame."
 - "Combustible."
 - "Do not smoke while using this product

CORROSIVE:

Eats through materials (acid, for example). Oven cleaners, drain cleaners, toilet bowl cleaners and auto batteries are common corrosive products. Look for words on the product label like:
 - "Causes severe burns on contact."
 - "Can burn eyes, skin, throat."

REACTIVE:

Can spontaneously ignite or create poisonous vapors when mixed with other products (therefore NEVER mix household products), or can explode when exposed to heat, air, water or shock. Fortunately, there are few consumer products still on the market that are explosive (except for fireworks). Some older explosive products might still be stored in homes.

These items that have one or more of these properties include but are not limited to the following materials:

            Automotive - lubricants, antifreeze, solvents, batteries, oils and filters.

Household – lithium or metal halide and metal hydride rechargeable batteries, paints, mercury thermometers, solvents, degreasers, cleaners, any other household chemicals, including swimming pool chemicals, aerosol paints and lubricants.

            Lawn and garden - fertilizers, defoliants, pesticides, herbicides, etc.

For more information, go to: http://www.cleanwaterclearchoice.org/

WESTPARK RECYCLING FACILITY

The City of Houston, Westpark Recycling Facility, located at 5900 Westpark (Key Map 491), accepts all batteries, used motor oil and filters, latex paint, antifreeze, and tires from all Houston-area residents. The facility is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. No County voucher, water bill or identification is needed to use this facility. See: http://www.cleanwaterclearchoice.org/hhw/voucher_program.html

Harris County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events: from the site listed below

“Harris County holds approximately ten (10) one-day drop-off events for Household Hazardous Waste throughout Harris County each year. The events are typically held during the spring and fall season, and are free to all residents of Harris County.

Residents may bring household quantities of paint products, pesticides, fertilizers, motor oil, gasoline, pool chemicals, household cleaners, aerosols, batteries and automotive tires (5 per household).

Used electronics such as televisions, computers, word processors, printers, scanners, fax machines, cellular phones, VCRs, stereos and other small personal electronics are also accepted. Residents may bring up to five (5) of each of these items.

A mercury thermometer exchange is also held in conjunction with each of the events. Residents may bring a mercury fever thermometer for proper disposal and receive a FREE, non-toxic replacement.

Participants will receive information on less toxic alternatives to common hazardous household products and can also shop for FREE items at the reusable products booth located near the exit of the drop-off site!

Business waste, medical waste, ammunition, explosives, compressed gas cylinders, washers, dryers, refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners, photocopy machines, microwaves, or smoke detectors are NOT accepted at these events. Businesses may call the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Small Business and Local Government Assistance Hotline (800-447-2827) for information on proper disposal methods for hazardous waste. The hotline offers free, confidential technical assistance.”

Please use the link below to see the Harris County site from which this portion was quoted and get more information on how to transport your waste.

http://www.cleanwaterclearchoice.org/hhw/collection.html

Other helpful links regarding hazardous waste:

Harris County Hazardous waste website:

http://www.cleanwaterclearchoice.org

Environmental Health Houston

http://envirohealthhouston.org/hazards/

City of Houston Department of Solid Waste Management

www.houstontx.gov

Keep Houston Beautiful, an organization that may be of interest to those that would like to get involved.

http://www.houstonbeautiful.org/