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Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division
Management of Hazardous Wastes From Your Home

• List of household hazardous waste collection events or facilities
• Disposal options for products commonly found in your house
• Disposal options for products commonly found in your garage
• Disposal options for products commonly used in your yard
• Colorado Recycles Recycling Guide  -exit this site

Some of the products used in your home, garage, workshop, yard and garden can be considered hazardous.  These products may be corrosive, explosive, flammable, a skin or eye irritant, toxic or radioactive.  Examples of these products include:  paint and decorating supplies, solvents and cleaning products, herbicides and pesticides, lawn care products such as fertilizer, and automotive products.  When these products are discarded, they may become hazardous waste; what we call "household hazardous waste."  The average American household generates about 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year.  Across Colorado, this equates to over 33,000,000  pounds of household hazardous waste being discarded every year.

Under state and federal law, hazardous waste from households can be disposed of in the trash.  However, these products can be an environmental hazard if they are handled or disposed of improperly and find their way into our water supply or into the air we breathe.  In addition, household hazardous waste can pose health and safety hazards to trash haulers and landfill operators.  Therefore, rather than throwing these wastes into the trash, we encourage other use and disposal options whenever possible.

This web page provides resources and information on alternatives for the management of hazardous waste generated from your home.  For additional information, please contact the Hazardous Materials and Waste Management Division Customer Technical Assistance Line at (303) 692-3320 or (888) 569-1831 ext. 3320 or by email at  comments.hmwmd@state.co.us.

• Dos and don'ts on managing household hazardous waste
• Alternative Household Cleaning Products

Overview of Disposal Options:

Although household hazardous wastes are exempt from state hazardous waste disposal regulations, they are covered by state solid waste regulations.  The options for disposal of household hazardous waste, in order of preference, are:

1. use the product as intended or find a friend, neighbor or neighborhood organization that can use the product.
2. take advantage of local programs that collect these wastes in order to minimize the amount that is sent to area landfills.  A few wastes can be rejuvenated and used for their intended purpose even after being left sitting around for a while, notably fuels and some solvents.
   List of household hazardous waste collection events or facilities
    
3. in areas where the above options are not available, most household hazardous wastes can be stabilized (treated in some way) to make them safer for landfill disposal.

• Disposal options for products commonly found in your house
  
• Disposal options for products commonly found in your garage
• Disposal options for products commonly used in your yard
   

Additional Resources:

Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator business waste consolidation programs

Colorado Recycles Recycling Guide - exit this site
This recycling guide is intended to identify statewide recyclers and the materials and products that they accept for recycling. The information included with each listing was submitted by the recyclers themselves. Colorado Recycles makes no endorsement of any recycler or recycling activity listed in the Guide.  The information in the Colorado Recycling Guide® is also available from their Recycling Hotline at 303-231-9972.

FEMA "Household Hazardous Materials - A Guide for Citizens"  - exit this site
This is an on-line independent study course designed and presented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Emergency Management Institute to educate and prevent many injuries occurring in the home.  The course introduces you to household hazardous materials and teaches you steps that can be taken to protect yourself, your family and your community.

Disclaimer:

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shall have no liability or responsibility of any kind to any user, other person or entity as a result of these guidelines.  The use of any or all guidance presented is solely at the discretion of the user.  This guidance should not be used other than for the specific waste and purpose as presented.  If you have mixtures of materials, the procedures described should not be used unless you have a thorough understanding of the chemistry of the materials involved.  These guidelines are for wastes generated by households only and may not be used for wastes generated by businesses, schools or government agencies.