What is Hazardous Waste?
Household Hazardous Waste encompasses a variety of toxic substances banned from the landfill.
Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) are common household products that exhibit the characteristics of hazardous waste. Many of these products are very common and are usually purchased from local hardware, automotive, and grocery stores. Because these products are so common and easy to purchase, many people forget that these products can be extremely harmful to their health or the environment. If labels contain the words: “Danger,” “Poison,” or “Caution/Warning consider it hazardous waste. |
Common Examples of Household Hazardous Waste
You do not need bring any empty bottles or cans to a collection; these items should be put in with your regular trash. How should I store it?
Safe storage of hazardous products between uses or between collections is vital to keeping your home environment healthy. General Guidelines:
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How to dispose of potentially hazardous waste:
Proper storage and disposal of hazardous waste is essential to the long-term health of Vermont's soil, air, and water. We offer multiple annual events for collection hazardous waste and other hard-to-dispose of materials from May to October. Collections are open to residents of all member towns. Fees are $20 per car load for most residential loads. Visit our Hazardous Waste Collections page to learn about upcoming events near you. Paint Recycling
We can accept paints (with the PaintCare standards) year-round at our ARCC facility, in addition to collecting them at HHW events. You can also check with your hardware store to see if they accept paint for recycling. |
Automotive products:Gasoline, kerosene, contaminated auto oil, brake fluid, transmission fluid. These should be taken to a Hazardous Waste Collection!
Used Oil can be recycled at the following locations: The outlets below CANNOT take motor oil contaminated by water, solvent (or other liquids), gas, etc.
Contaminated oil products MUST go to a HHW collection event. See our Trash & Recycling Options page for facility locations and contact information. |
Products containing mercury:
*For more information and to learn about year round collections of mercury containing items, see VT DEC Mercury Education website. |
How do I reduce toxins in my home?
Refuse to buy toxins! See our booklet, Non-toxic Household Cleaners, for more information on how to reduce the amount of poisonous cleaners you use.
The National Institutes for Health has a searchable Household Products Database and is a wonderful resource for learning about specific toxic ingredients in products commonly found around the home. CVSWMD also is dedicated to educating about reducing toxins in our communities. Learn more about toxins by clicking the link below |
Check out this video from The Green Guide@Howdini.com!
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