1. The best way to manage HHW is to avoid creating it. Select the least toxic product to do the job. Buy only as much as you need.

 

2.     Is the product still usable? Give it away. A friend, neighbor, or community group such as Little League or Habitat for Humanity may be able to use it.

3.     If the product isn’t usable or you can’t give it away, take it to your community’s HHW collection program.

4.     Take spent lead acid batteries back to the place where you bought them. State law requires dealers to accept old batteries when you buy new ones.

5.     If your community doesn’t have an HHW collection program, or if you must throw the material away before the next collection, you may put it in your regular trash, provided:

a.      You have complied with any disposal instructions on the label. 

b.      There are no free-standing liquids. If water based, allow the liquid to evaporate. If not water-based, absorb the liquid into vermiculite, cat litter, saw dust or other absorbent material.

c.      You have carefully packaged any residue to prevent leakage while the material is being transported to a disposal facility.

d.     You have only a small quantity. Divide larger quantities and dispose of them over several collection periods.

Visit DEP through the PA homepage at:

www.state.pa.us

or directly at

www.dep.state.pa.us

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

What can YOU do about it?