Household Hazardous Waste Collection Dates Set

The FREE Household Hazardous Waste Collections will be in Oregon on April 2^nd and in Maryville on April 9^th.  Photo ID is required to show proof of residency in Atchison, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway or Worth County.  NO drop-off fee, collections are FREE!  Funding is provided by a grant from the Northwest Missouri Solid Waste Management District.  Do your spring cleaning now and make your home a safer place.  Call Linda at 6600-582-5121 for more information.

Here is some information about how dispose of these latex paint and alkaline batteries safely in the trash since we no longer accept these items at the HHW collections.

How to Safely Dispose of Latex Paint and Household Alkaline Batteries

Disposal of latex paint in the garbage

To safely dispose of latex paint in the trash is must be dried out.  Here’s how:

1.  Add equal parts clay kitty litter to latex paint in the can (one part paint to one part kitty litter).

     If you have more than a half a can, pour the paint into a lined cardboard box then pour in cat litter.

2.  Stir the cat litter into the paint until it has an oatmeal-like consistency that will not spill out.

3.  Allow the paint and cat litter mixture to sit for one hour.

4.  Throw the dried paint in the can in the garbage with the lid off.

Instead of cat litter, you can use a commercial paint hardener. Follow the instructions on the label. For very small amounts, you can paint on cardboard or newspaper and discard the newspaper/cardboard in the garbage when dry.

If you have latex paint in cans that are less than 5 years old and rust-free they can be donated to support Habitat for Humanity at the ReStore; Google Habitat for Humanity to find the most convenient store. Oil-based paint is hazardous and must be disposed of at one of the household hazardous waste collections.

Disposal of household alkaline batteries

Due to concerns about mercury in the municipal solid waste stream, the added mercury has been eliminated from alkaline batteries. Alkaline batteries are composed primarily of common metals—steel, zinc, and manganese—and do not pose a health or environmental risk during normal use or disposal.

Alkaline batteries can be safely disposed of with normal household waste. Never dispose of batteries in fire because they could explode.  It is important not to dispose of large numbers of alkaline batteries in a group. Used batteries are often not completely dead. Grouping used batteries together can bring these live batteries into contact with one another, creating safety risks.  The best thing to do is to discard them in the trash when they are taken out of a device to put in new batteries.