What is household hazardous waste?
Household hazardous waste includes products that contain hazardous ingredients and require special care when you dispose of them. These are products that can catch fire, react, or explode under certain circumstances, or that are corrosive or toxic. Products which need to be properly disposed of include:
- Household cleaners
- Laundry products
- Pet products
- Batteries
- Cooking oil
- Car products/used oil
- Fuel
- Paint/stains
- Paint thinners
- Turpentine
- Lawn and garden products
- Fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides
- Fluorescent tubes
- Pool chemicals
- Mercury thermometers
The Impact
Litter and chemicals from our home can pollute waterways and be toxic to aquatic life. Household hazardous waste includes products that can cause algal blooms, damage aquatic ecosystems, and harm wildlife living in and drinking from our streams and creeks.
What do I do with hazardous materials?
Whether you need to get rid of used motor oil, paint, solvents, or fertilizer, please recycle or properly dispose of these products. By responsibly disposing of these items, you are keeping them from accidentally ending up in our streams and negatively impacting aquatic life.
Residents of the Boulder St. Vrain Watershed have many options when it comes to recycling or disposing of household waste and chemicals:
Eco-Cycle
Eco-Cycle’s A-Z Guide will tell you how to recycle or dispose of any waste item.
Hazardous Material Management Facility (HMMF)
Residents of Boulder County and the Town of Erie can use the Hazardous Material Management Facility (HMMF) to dispose of a wide variety of hazardous products for free: garden products, auto products and fluids, household products and cleaners, batteries and lights, paint products and more. Visit their website to see a full list of what materials they accept.
Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM)
The Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials (CHaRM) at Eco-Cycle accepts many of the difficult to recycle materials that you don’t know what to do with for free or a small fee. They accept electronics, plastics, ink cartridges, mattress, appliances, and more. Visit their website to see a full list of items they accept and associated facility fees.
City of Longmont Waste Diversion Center
City of Longmont residents can take used automotive oil, cooking oil, yard waste, and other items to the City of Longmont Waste Diversion Center.
Medication
Responsibly dispose of unused or expired over-the-counter and prescription medications by using a drop-off site provided by the Colorado Household Medication Take-Back Program.
Paint
Find a drop-off site for expired or unneeded paint through the PaintCare program.