Household Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste exhibits one or more characteristics of ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity, making it dangerous. Paint products, pool chemicals, household cleaners, and pesticides are typical examples. When disposed of in the municipal solid waste stream or otherwise improperly managed, these materials have the potential of contaminating the ground water - our drinking water supply.

The government does not regulate hazardous wastes generated in the home. In Florida, household hazardous waste collection centers have been established in most communities. Every county in the state of Florida has a household hazardous waste (HHW) program. These programs include permanent collection facilities (one or multiple, staffed and unstaffed), collection events (regularly scheduled or once/twice a year events), and even a few curbside collections.

Visit your local household hazardous waste program website (either your county or city) for advice and collection schedules.

• For your nearest drop-off location, visit Earth 911 or call 1-800-CLEANUP
• Rechargeable batteries & cell phones: For your nearest recycling drop-off location, visit Call2Recycle or call 1-877-2RECYCLE.

The department encourages county HHW programs to develop standard operating procedures to ensure the safe operation of HHW programs and compliance with applicable regulations.

• Standards for Florida's Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facilities - En Español
• Management of VSQGs Waste at Household Hazardous Waste Facilities
• Why Collect Household Hazardous Waste?  - En Español

The Florida Legislature initiated the Hazardous Waste Collection Center Grant Program to encourage the establishment of a statewide network of local hazardous waste collection centers. These facilities are intended to provide free collections of non-regulated hazardous waste from households and to provide short-term storage of potentially hazardous waste generated by small businesses. Also, the public awareness component of a collection not only helps residents to better understand and manage their household hazardous waste but may help them to learn to reduce the volume they generate.

The USEPA has launched a website to provide information to households about proper disposal of leftover medications, including how to use various pharmaceutical take-back programs. This new web area will help the public understand why proper disposal of household medication is needed and what households should and should not do with their unwanted medications. The website will also provide collectors of household medications with information about what they should do with the medications they collect.

The USEPA has published a fact sheet on how individual consumers should take e-cigarettes to their household hazardous waste collection sites to dispose of them safely. They should not put e-cigarettes in household trash or recycling bins. The lithium batteries inside of e-cigarettes can become damaged and cause fires. And the nicotine inside the devices is toxic and poses a risk to both workers and the environment.

Hazardous Waste Management Main Page