Waste Banned from the Trash

Items banned from trash, recycling, or organics bin. See links for more information.

Lights and Batteries

• Fluorescent lamps and tubes, including metal halide lamps, and sodium vapor lamps. Never put LED lights in the trash because they often have toxic metals. 
• Batteries, including all batteries, AAA, AA, C, D, button cell, 9-volt, and all others, both rechargeable and single-use, and lead-acid batteries like car batteries can leak toxic fluids. Batteries also cause fires with worker injuries in sorting and recycling facilities.

Household and Landscape Chemicals

Contact your local household hazardous waste facility for the following items:

• Flammables and poisons including solvent-based (oil) paints and reactive and explosive materials.
• Acids, oxidizers, and bases, including some pool chemicals and cleaners.
• Pesticides and herbicides.

Paints and Solvents

• Latex paint
• Oil-based paint
• Nonempty aerosol paint or solvent cans 
• Solvents include materials such as paint thinners, fingernail polish remover, etc.

Automobile-Related

• Antifreeze
• Batteries
• Motor oil and filters
• Tires are not hazardous but are banned from the trash to avoid mosquito breeding and tire fires.

Building Materials

• Asbestos is in some older cement, roofing, flooring, and siding. Find information on asbestos in your home from the U.S. EPA.
• Treated Wood with chemical preservatives to protect it from insect and fungal decay must be managed as hazardous waste.

Other

• Compressed gas cylinders, including propane tanks used for BBQ, camping, or plumbing.
• Polychlorinated biphenyl-containing materials include older caulk, paint, glues, plastics, fluorescent lighting ballasts, transformers, and capacitors.
• Photo waste (silver bearing).
• Nonempty aerosol cans that contain hazardous materials like butane, as propellants for products like paint. Don’t put cans labeled TOXIC or FLAMMABLE in the trash.