The Challenge
Safely disposing of household hazardous waste products like nail polish, pool chemicals, mercury thermostats, and pepper spray in a way that is not harmful to the environment.
Veolia Runs the Program for the Region
“When you pull up to one of these collections, you’ll see a number of people doing a number of things, and they do them very well. That’s all Veolia,” says the regional agency’s public information manager. “Veolia does a great job running this program for us. You don’t pay a penny to visit a collection site. This is a valuable public service that costs each household in the county about $4 a year.”
The Solution
Partner with Veolia to stage waste collection events in a metropolitan area.
A leader in HHW Events
“This regional agency is an exceptional leader in ensuring the safe and compliant management and disposal of household hazardous waste by hosting these events over the years,” says Veolia Central General Manager Joe Baumann. “We’re proud to be able to support the community in this effort."
“Residents can bring in everything from antifreeze, gasoline, lighter fluid, paint thinner, road flares, shellac, fertilizer, pesticides, furniture polish, insect spray, cleaners, disinfectants, hair remover, nail polish, and more. Our motto is, ‘if doesn’t bring joy, just drop it off.'”
The Result
With the help of Veolia, this regional agency has collected over 22 million pounds of household chemicals since 1997, seriously reducing the amount of household hazardous waste filtering into the environment through routine solid waste collection.
Beneficial Reuse of a Waste Is a Priority
“We can recycle or reuse 60% to 70% of the materials brought in,” notes Baumann. “For materials that can’t be recycled or reused in the conventional sense, we work to find alternative options. For example, we are able to bulk up the paint we collect, fill a tanker truck with the liquid and beneficially reuse it as a replacement fuel in place of coal at a cement kiln.”