Joe E. Heimlich
As individuals become more aware of the growing waste management issues, one area of concern is disposal of household hazardous materials. Most people discard hazardous materials with their household refuse. Although legal, this can cause significant problems.
Consider the cleansers, paints, fuels and aerosols in and around your home. What happens when the container is empty, or more likely, nearly empty? Now picture every household in your community with at least as many items as you discarding nearly empty containers. In fact, up to one percent of a household's waste may be hazardous. What is really frightening, though, is that for some materials, only a small bit is highly toxic, ignitable, or reactive. A little bit can cause a major explosion or real pollution potential.
Yet, it is legal to dispose of these materials with household refuse. We are protected from excessive government in our country. What an individual can legally dispose of in a landfill, a business or a community cannot.
Increasingly, communities across the United States are establishing household hazardous materials collection programs. This fact sheet will briefly describe the types of programs and some of their strengths and weaknesses.
A collection day program is one in which hazardous materials from households can be brought into a central site. Communities doing collection days identify what materials they will accept and publicize the list with instructions on how to safely transport and deliver the materials to the central location. On the collection day, citizens bring items to the site where the materials are sorted. On the site, food, beverages, and smoking are strictly prohibited.
A city may provide transfer facility services, but cannot store any of the hazardous materials itself. If the city were to store the materials for any amount of time, the city or the sponsor may be considered a "generator" of hazardous waste.
The positive elements of a collection day are that some permits may not be required, the problem is addressed in a short, intensive time period, and it is a good pretest for a permanent program. Disadvantages are that the program is not reliable nor regular for the consumers, it does nothing to address disposal of the hazardous materials after collection, it reinforces the out-of-sight, out-of-mind attitude and it occurs only one time. Finally, a collection day is very costly, raises major liability issues and has no more than a five percent participation rate.
The selective collection is a collection day with only specific materials accepted. This type of program can remove at least the high-volume or high-toxicity wastes, but it does not address all types of hazardous materials.
There are a couple of examples of curbside or door-to-door collection programs for household hazardous materials. In these programs, waste is collected directly from the homes either by appointment or on a neighborhood schedule. This type of program is by far the most convenient, encourages the most education and may be the only means for some types of households to participate. It is labor and capital intensive, requires residents to be home to collect the materials, and requires transportation, storage and generation permits for the municipality or contracted firm doing the collection. A driver for a curbside collection program must be knowledgeable about the properties of different chemical wastes.
A mobile unit is a cross between a collection day and a door-to-door program. A large trailer-type storage facility is transported into a neighborhood on specified days for hazardous materials disposal. This type of program works better in rural areas and small communities and reduces both organization and contracting time for each community. It is expensive and labor intensive and requires special permits.
Using existing sites and staff, a manufacturer, hazardous waste transportation firm or waste disposal firm provides collection and disposal as a public service. This type of program is highly dependent upon a benevolent firm participating. If a firm is willing to provide this service on a limited basis, a private vendor provision program may work very well. The public costs are low (promotion and coordination), and public participation will vary depending upon accessibility to the site and frequency of the program.
A take-back program is a legislated program that requires a manufacturer or retailer of a hazardous material to "take back" any leftover hazardous household product. This approach puts the responsibility for disposal on the manufacturer or retailer, alerts consumers as to what materials are hazardous and is convenient for consumers. Disadvantages are that such a program requires legislative action, faces heavy industry opposition and would be difficult to enforce. Costs for this type of program would be passed directly to the consumer.
In a swap program, certain types of household hazardous materials are accepted for temporary storage. These materials are then available at low or no cost to any individual or non-profit group in need. Swap programs sound good, but have had little success in getting individuals to use the leftover materials of others although a few communities have had good outcomes with paint exchanges. In many swap programs the materials must be disposed of in a timely manner or the site becomes a storage area for large quantities of hazardous materials. Another option is the use of a "clearinghouse" or telephone exchange program whereby people desiring and people who have chemical items are put in contact with each other.
All the processes described above have some costs associated with them. Obviously, the best alternative is for the consumer not to use or generate hazardous materials in the home. There are non-hazardous alternatives for many of the hazardous items that we use. Failing this, a few simple disposal alternatives are possible for individuals. Any effort to reduce or eliminate household hazardous waste from the waste stream and landfills will require education programs. The following strategies can be effectively communicated to a community.
Solvent-base cleaners, oil-based paints and solvents can evaporate. Either by solidifying or by air evaporation (away from children and pets, outside only), many household materials can be stabilized or eliminated.
Antifreeze, weak acids/bases, spent photographic developer and non-solvent household cleaners can be flushed into municipal sewage treatment systems. No hazardous material should ever be flushed into a septic system For more information on appropriate disposal see fact sheet, CDFS-102, available from your county Ohio Cooperative Extension Service office.
This fact sheet is one in a five-part series on Household Hazardous Materials prepared by Community and Natural Resources Development and Home Economics. The others focus on the home-based issues of "Use and Storage of Hazardous Materials," "AIternatives to Hazardous Materials," "Hazardous Materials in the Home," and "Proper Disposal of Hazardous Materials."
All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status.
Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ag. Adm. and Director, OSU Extension.
TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868