Hazardous Items 216-691-7300 pwd@clvhts.com Hazardous household products are those that are toxic, flammable, corrosive, or if it reacts or explodes when mixed with other substances. You can tell if a product is hazardous if words such as 'POISON,' 'DANGER,' 'WARNING,' or 'CAUTION' appear on the label. Possible examples are oven cleaner, medications, spot remover, drain cleaner, paint, flea and tick powder, turpentine, household cleaners, metal polish, pool chemicals, gasoline, lawn and garden products, bleach, detergent and furniture polish. Care must be taken to properly use, store and dispose of hazardous products so that they do not harm people, pets and the environment. Toxic products carelessly tossed in the trash can injure sanitation workers, damage collection vehicles, or leak into the environment. Some products, when poured down the drain or on the ground, can damage plumbing or septic systems and pollute our water supply. Improper storage of these products within the reach of children or in unmarked or unsealed containers is a safety hazard. The best way to get rid of hazardous products is to use them up or give them away to someone who can. Since this is not always possible, suggested disposal methods follow. In addition, twice a year, the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District ( www.cuyahogaswd.org ) conducts the Old Paint & Pesticide Round-Up in which the City of Cleveland Heights participates. Antifreeze - Antifreeze can be recycled. Put the antifreeze in a jar or plastic container and clearly label it 'ANTIFREEZE' and place on your tree lawn on your regular collection day. A small amount (5 gallons or less) can be diluted with water and poured down a sanitary sewer drain. These are drains within your home which flow to a waste water treatment plant unless your home is connected to a septic system. DO NOT pour into a septic system. DO NOT pour anything down a storm drain on your street. These drains flow directly to streams and Lake Erie. Batteries - Alkaline batteries can be safely disposed in your trash. Batteries that should be recycled are lead-acid batteries from engines and rechargeable nickel-cadmium batteries (NiCad). Lead-acid batteries (car batteries) can be recycled at some automotive centers or placed on your tree lawn on your regular collection day for collection by the City. Collected car batteries are recycled. The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) can help you recycle your portable rechargeable batteries. These batteries are commonly found in cordless power tools, cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras, and remote control toys. RBRC recycles the following battery chemistries: Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-ion) and Small Sealed Lead (Pb). For more information, visit www.rbrc.org. Drain cleaner is a caustic material and should be used up according to package directions. Never mix drain cleaner with bleach or ammonia; toxic fumes or an explosion could result. Cleaners and polishes should be used up according to package directions or given to someone who can. Most water soluble cleaning products can be safely disposed down the drain with running water. Do not mix products! Aerosol products can be disposed by turning the can upside down and then depressing the nozzle to release the propellant. Do this outdoors. Dispose the container in the trash. Gasoline and kerosene - No disposal options exist in the county for these materials. However, most gasoline and kerosene can be used after it is 'reconditioned' even if it is old or contains oil or water. Reconditioned gasoline can be used in vehicles and smaller two-cycle engines such as snow blowers and lawn mowers. A fact sheet explaining how to recondition gasoline and kerosene can be obtained from the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District (216-443-3749). Note: When mixing fuels for a lawn mower or snow blower, be sure to only mix what you need, and at the end of the season allow the engine to run dry. You can also allow gasoline to evaporate, but take care to place it away from children, pets or sparks. If you want to discard a gas/oil mixture, you must solidify it with cat litter before putting it out with your refuse. DO NOT discard liquid gasoline, oil or oil/gas mixture with your refuse. Oven cleaner is a caustic material and should be used up according to package directions. Never mix oven cleaner with bleach or ammonia; toxic fumes or an explosion could result. Medicine - Flush liquids down the drain. Dispose of pills in the trash. Mercury - (thermometers, thermostats, and mercury switches). Contact the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District at 216-443-3749 for proper instruction and locations for the disposal of these items. Honeywell, a thermostat manufacturer, will properly dispose of Honeywell thermostats from in-home use. Call 1-800-345-6770 for a free, postage-paid mailing pouch. Paint - Oil-based paint may be disposed of at the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District's Old Paint & Pesticide Round-up. Lids must be secured and cans placed in an open cardboard box. Latex paint - Since latex paint is not hazardous and is comprised mostly of water, The City of Cleveland Heights asks residents to solidify latex paint so that it can be collected by the Division of Refuse and Recycling. To solidify latex paint: Allow the paint to dry by removing the lid and allowing liquids to evaporate over several days. This method works well for small amounts (an inch or two in the bottom of a can). Mix liquid paint with an equal amount of an absorbent material in the paint can or in a cardboard box lined with plastic. Leave open to air dry. Use cat litter, oil dry, Fullers Earth, or similar drying agents. Allow the paint to dry one layer at a time until all paint has hardened. When thoroughly dry, place the paint can or box on the curb along with your regular refuse. Leave the lids off so the waste collector can see the paint has hardened. Do not dump latex paint on the ground or down storm drains where it will travel directly to surface ground waters. Do not pour it down the drain. While small amounts of latex paint can safely be washed down the drain, this practice should be kept to a minimum. Limit this to the brush cleaning and clean-up. Do not throw liquids in the trash. It may be released from the can when trash is compacted and spill out of the waste collection vehicle onto your street. Pesticide and herbicide - Ideally, these products should be used up according to label directions unless the product contains a banned ingredient such as DDT or chlordane. If you no longer need a product, consider donating it to a local garden club. If that is not possible, safely store the product until your regular collection day and place these items in a separate open box a few feet from your garbage. Photographic chemicals - Mixed black and white photograph solutions can be diluted with water and flushed down a sanitary drain in your home. Do not dispose in a septic system. For more information about disposal of unmixed chemicals or color chemicals, contact the Eastman Kodak Environmental Hotline at 1-800-242-2424. Propane cylinders - Return to a propane gas supplier. A list of these companies can be found in the Yellow Pages under Gas-Propane. They can also be placed on your tree lawn on your regular collection day away from your refuse. Stains or varnishes - Use up, give to a friend, or set out on the regular collection day in a separate, open-lid box a couple feet away from your refuse. Be sure the lids are on tight and secure. Syringes should be inserted, needles pointing downward, into a two-liter plastic bottle (soda bottle) or laundry detergent bottle and tightly sealed. Place this container in your garbage, NOT with the recyclables. No sharps or bio-hazardous containers (red containers) are permitted in the landfill and will not be collected. These containers must be returned to a medical facility. Mufflers, car doors and parts, small engines, truck camper tops, garage doors (if cut to manageable size), antennas, ladders (4' in length), barbecue grills, empty dumpsters or garbage cans will be collected for disposal. Scrap metal should be less than four feet long and must weigh less than 40 pounds. Turpentine/paint remover/solvents/filter can be reused until used up. Simply pour the product through a coffee filter over a glass jar. Paint and other sludge particles will be trapped in the filter. Wrap the filter in newspaper and dispose in the trash. Store the clean solvent in a sealed and labeled glass jar. Unwanted solvents should be placed in an open lid box and placed a few feet away from the trash on your regular collection day. Windowpanes and fluorescent light bulbs should be placed in an open cardboard box on the tree lawn so the refuse collector can see he is collecting glass. Please understand that this is an important safety issue.