Waste Banned from the Trash

 

Many common products may contain hazardous materials and require special disposal. 
It’s illegal to dispose of hazardous waste in the garbage, down storm drains, or onto the ground because it can harm health and cause fires.

Check with your local waste management agency or click the links below to find out where to take these items.

 

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

Automobile-Related

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

Do not throw electronic devices in the trash!

Electronic devices often have hazardous waste. 

  • Televisions
  • Monitors
  • Laptop
  • Computer CPUs
  • Printers
  • Radios
  • Microwave ovens
  • VCR
  • Cell phones
  • Cordless phones
  • Telephone answering machines

Learn more at: