Hazardous items can be reused

Ever felt a tinge of guilt throwing out used motor oil, batteries and paint with the rest of the trash?

Good, because you should. Most household hazardous waste products can be recycled, reused or disposed of properly, local waste management directors say.

South Utah Valley Waste Management district manager Richard Henry said it's not necessarily illegal for people to throw out their household hazardous waste products, including antifreeze, batteries, fuels and cleaning products, in the landfill.

"That being said, it's not necessarily the best thing to do with them," Henry said.

Most of those products can safely be disposed of at local waste management facilities. The Salt Lake Valley Solid Waste Management Facility has accommodations where community residents can drop off their hazardous wastes for free, said Dorothy Adams, Salt Lake County Household Hazardous Waste coordinator.

Many of the items people drop off are still reusable, Adams said. All of the oil taken to household hazardous waste sites is recycled, and most of the used paint is poured into 55-gallon drums and sent to Mexico, where it is used to cover graffiti, she said.

Pesticides, fertilizers and paints are also placed at the Reuse Center at Salt Lake County facility where people can pick them up free of charge. Some of the products are also used to make paint primer, caulking and lubricants. Anything that can't be recycled or reused is destroyed at incinerators that reach 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.

South Utah Valley Waste Management does not have facilities where people can drop off their household hazardous materials. Richards said they host special days where people can drop them off free of charge. He said the planned next day is -March 28. The facility will announce where people can drop off their products in the next few weeks.

Wasatch Integrated Waste Management District in Layton also offers people the option to drop off their household hazardous waste during regular business hours, said executive director Nathan Rich. He also said the staff does all it can to make drop offs easy for people so they don't seek less-environmentally friendly disposal methods.

"We don't want (chemicals) dumped down a storm drain or dumped out behind the house," Rich said.

Residents can contact their local waste management districts to find out what options are available for properly disposing of household hazardous waste.

Common household hazardous waste

Antifreeze
Batteries
Fluorescent light tubes
Fuels
Gasoline
Oil
Paint
Pesticides
Transmission fluid
Yard-care chemicals
Other household chemicals

Contributing: Rebecca Palmer