How to identify, recycle household hazardous waste

If you've painted your house, refinished your floors, or switched your light bulbs from CFLs to LEDs, chances are you had some leftover products containing dangerous ingredients.

Paints, cleaners, batteries, and pesticides are among the common household materials that the Environmental Protection Agency classifies as household hazardous waste.

Here's their definition: "EPA considers some leftover household products that can catch fire, react or explode under certain circumstances, or that are corrosive or toxic as household hazardous waste."

Many types of HHW aren't recyclable. For those products, the focus is on keeping hazardous materials out of the landfills and water supply. Let's take a closer look at why proper storage and disposal of these common household products is so important.

Why should I care about HHW?

First, it's the law. The 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act put rules in place for storage, handling and disposal of HHW. If you dispose of it improperly (for example, pour it down the drain), you are likely breaking the law.

Second, HHW often contains toxic chemicals like cadmium, lead and mercury. There's a reason you can no longer find paint containing lead or alkaline batteries containing mercury. They present a health hazard to people, animals and the environment.

How do I identify HHW?

Unfortunately, household hazardous waste is rarely labeled explicitly. Some words to look for on the container include:

• Caution

• Characteristics

• Corrosive

• Danger

• Flammable

• Poison

• Reactive

• Signals

• Toxic

• Warning

If you see any of these words on the label, you're dealing with a hazardous material. Store the product away from children and pets. Dispose of any remaining product through the proper channel.

Where do I find HHW?

You'll most often find hazardous household products in the garage in the form of automotive fluids, paint or pesticides.

They are also common in the kitchen (aerosol cans, cleaning supplies, fire extinguishers), bathroom (medications, nail polish, hypodermic needles), and living areas (batteries, electronics, thermostats).

Who accepts HHW for disposal?

For a list of drop-off locations and home collection programs, visit www.countyofkane.org/Recycling/Pages/hhw.aspx or www.swancc.org.

What happens to HHW?

Some forms of household hazardous waste are actually recyclable, such as gasoline, motor oil, antifreeze, as well as medications, fluorescent light bulbs and mercury thermostats.

HHW that isn't recycled or reused is typically put in a special landfill or incinerated through a process that significantly limits the release of pollutants to the air. Scrubbers collect emissions at the incinerator smokestack, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules.

Take the time to dispose of household hazardous waste properly. It will protect your family and property from contamination and improve the local environment.