Household Hazardous Waste

Art Supplies

• Glues and adhesives
• Hydrofluoric (etching) acid
• Photographic chemicals
• Picric acid
• Polyurethane cement

Automotive

• Antifreeze
• Automotive body filler
• Brake fluid
• Car battery acid
• Car wax and polish
• Carburetor cleaner
• Degreasers
• Diesel fuel Engine
• Starting fluid
• Fuel treatments
• Gasoline
• Grease
• Lead-acid batteries
• Motor oil
• Power steering fluid
• Tire black
• Transmission fluid
• Window washer fluid

Fuels

• Camping fuel
• Gasoline/oil mixtures
• Kerosene
• Lighter fluid
• White gas

Home and Hobby

• Boat bilge pumps
• Button and Rechargeable batteries
• Chemistry kits
• Compressed-gas cylinders
• Cutting oil
• Gun cleaning solvents
• Industrial cleaners
• Mercury
• Mercury containing batteries
• Refrigerator and air conditioner CFCs

Home Office

• Ammonia from blueprint machines
• Duplicator fluid
• Ink jet cartridges
• Toner from laser printers and copiers

Home Repair

• Asbestos
• Asphalt driveway sealer
• Asphalt roofing cement
• Creosote
• Epoxies
• Fluorescent lights
• Glues
• Grinding compounds
• Pool chemicals
• Resins
• Rubber cement
• Rust proofing
• Smoke detectors
  Stump killer
• Thermostats

Household Cleaners

• Air fresheners
• Aluminum cleaner
• Ammonia
• Bleach
• Cesspool cleaners
• Disinfectants
• Drain opener
• Dry-cleaning solvents
• Floor wax
• Furniture polish
• Mildew removers
• Oven cleaner
• Rug and upholstery cleaners
• Spot remover
• Spray starch
• Toilet cleaner

Paint and Paint Products

• Linseed oil
• Oil-based paint
• Paint additives
• Paint strippers
• Paint thinners
• Primer
• Pruning paint
• Shellac
• Solvent-based paint
• Spray paint
• Stains
• Turpentine
• Varnish

Personal Care

• Fingernail polish/remover
• Hair coloring
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Iodine
• Infectious waste
• Mercury thermometers
• Perfume
• Peroxide
• Shoe polish
• Syringes/sharps

Pesticides

• Baygon
• Chlordane
• DDT
• Diasinon
• Dioxin
• Fursban
• Flea collars/spray
• Fungicides
• Herbicides
• Insecticides
• Lindane
• Malathion
• Moth balls/crystals
• Pentachloraphenol
• Pyrethrins Rodenticides
• Strychnine
• Weed killer
• Wood preservative

Things That Go BANG!
These items cannot be brought to our HHW collection. Call the District for special instructions for these wastes.

• Ammunition
• Gunpowder
• Explosives
• Fireworks
• Flares

We have mercury collection programs at all LRSWMD operated transfer stations. Check out the drop-off locations page for a site near you.

The District will swap your old mercury thermometers (household or medical) for a new digital medical thermometer. Ask the attendant about the swap program or bring them into the District Office during regular office hours.

Acceptable Materials and Fees

Fluorescent lamps - No Charge
Fluorescent lamp Ballasts - No Charge
Mercury Thermometers (medical & home) - Swap 
Batteries (camera, watch) - No Charge 
Lithium Batteries (computer) - No Charge 
NiCad Batteries (rechargeable) - No Charge 
Old Household Batteries (older than 1992) - No Charge 

The above fees are for residential customers only. Businesses will be charged a small fee and must call ahead of time with quantities and a delivery date.

You may exchange your mercury thermometer for a digital one at the LRSWMD office, Monday through Friday from 8:00 – 4:00, or at any of the LRSWMD Household Hazardous Waste Collection events.

Please read this important information regarding Mercury Thermometers:
Vermont Agency of Natural Resources Mercury Education & Reduction Campaign
Vermont Department of Health Mercury Fact Sheet

Affordable Alternatives

A variety of mercury-free alternatives are available at your local pharmacy.  Alternatives most comparable in cost and use to the mercury fever thermometer include digital thermometers and glass gallium-tin thermometers.  These can all be used orally, rectally, or axillarily (in the armpit).  Other alternatives include inexpensive flexible forehead thermometers or the more expensive infrared ear thermometer.  Flexible forehead thermometers are easy and fast to use, but not very accurate.  According to the American Medical Association, the most important thing is to choose a thermometer that is easy to use and read.

In 1998, the American Hospital Association (AHA) signed an agreement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency committing to the virtual elimination of mercury from hospital waste streams.  In order to accomplish this, many hospitals are phasing out the use of mercury thermometers and other mercury-containing equipment.  By eliminating mercury use in your house, you will be setting an example for the hospitals in your community.  If your healthcare provider will uses mercury thermometers or other mercury-containing equipment such as blood pressure devices, ask them to look for alternatives. 

(source: Health Care Without Harm – Center for Health, Environment and Justice)

If you break your mercury thermometer, it is important that it be cleaned up

Immediately after a spill, keep all people and pets away from the spill area.  To minimize the mercury that vaporizes, turn off any heaters and turn up any air conditioners.  Ventilate the area by opening windows and, when possible, keep open for at least two days. Never use a vacuum to clean up a mercury spill.  Not only will the mercury contaminate your vacuum; the heat from the vacuum will evaporate the mercury, further distributing it throughout your house.  Similarly, never use a broom to clean up mercury.  It will only distribute the mercury into smaller beads, and will contaminate the broom.

Other Products that Contain Mercury

• Fluorescent and mercury vapor lamps
• Thermostats
• Thermometers
• Automotive headlamps (blue tint)
• Gas appliances with pilot lights
• Switches – silent light switches, tilt switches (automotive trunk and hood lights, chest freezer lights,  space heaters, sump and bilge pumps and clothes irons)
• Barometers, manometers, blood pressure and vacuum gauges
• Fluorescent & High Intensity Discharge Bulbs
Fluorescent and High Intensity Discharge bulbs contain mercury.  Hg on the label means the bulb contains mercury and should be recycled or managed as a hazardous waste. Don’t trash fluorescent bulbs! Improper disposal means mercury enters our environment and affects wildlife and human health.   Fluorescent bulbs are VERY energy efficient and using them will help lower your electric bill.  Fluorescent bulbs are 75% more efficient that incandescent bulbs and last 5-10 times longer.  When you use energy-saving compact fluorescent bulbs, you actually reduce mercury pollution by lowering the demand for electricity from power plants that emit mercury. HID (High Intensity Discharge) bulbs include metal halide, high pressure sodium, mercury vapor, etc. used commonly in commercial indoor and outdoor lighting, and other specialty lighting applications.
(source: Department of EnvironmentalConservation, Mercury Education and Reduction Campaign)

Call LRSWMD at 888-7317 for instructions on proper disposal of your fluorescent and HID bulbs

Here are ways for managing your leftover paint:

1. Buy only what you need and use it up.
2. Recycle the empty can once the paint is used up.
3. Store paint for future projects.
4. Donate useable leftover paint to others.
5. Dry leftover water-based paints (latex/acrylic) and discard in your normal trash. To speed drying, you can use cat box litter, shredded newspapers, or sawdust.

While Latex Paint is not technically considered a hazardous waste, it needs to be managed differently from your regular trash.

Most consumers are unaware of the toxic materials in their computers. Printed circuit boards contain heavy metals such as antimony, silver, chromium, zinc, lead, tin, copper, and mercury. Monitors contain lead to shield users against radiation. Cadmium is found in the computer chips and semi-conductors and is used as a plastic stabilizer. Mercury is also used in the switches, relays and batteries. Some New England states are banning the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) found in monitors and televisions from landfills and incinerators.

Recycle your computer at any of the LRSWMD transfer stations and drop off locations.