Attention Solvang and unincorporated county residents: Grab those bags of dead batteries you’ve been trying to figure out how to throw away and head to Los Olivos on Sunday, April 10. It’s hazardous waste collection day.
Santa Barbara County’s Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division holds its hazardous waste collection events biannually to provide a safe collection platform for garbage that shouldn’t go in the trash can. Program Specialist Leslie Robinson said hazardous waste is toxic, flammable, or reactive, and can pose dangers if they’re thrown away in the same manner as typical trash.
“We don’t want those to get into the landfill or our groundwater potentially, and they also pose a safety risk to the garbage collection workers, especially with those items that are reactive or flammable,” Robinson said. “We don’t want anything reacting with each other and creating more problems.”
Robinson said the most common items to come through waste collection events include paints, household cleaners, pesticides, gardening chemicals (e.g. fertilizer), household batteries, car batteries, fluorescent lights (which contain mercury), and automotive products such as motor oil, antifreeze, brake fluid, and old gasoline.
Robinson said the event doesn’t require an appointment, and residents can just drive through any time between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. to drop off their waste. They don’t even need to leave their cars.
“It’s easy,” Robinson said.
Per California law, people aren’t allowed to transport more than 15 gallons or 125 pounds of hazardous waste without a special license, so Waste Management will only accept waste in these amounts. If that isn’t enough, residents can make multiple trips. With the exception of smoke detectors, the event will not accept biological, explosive, or radioactive materials, nor will it accept ammunition or controlled substances.
The collection will not accept trash or green waste.
Robinson recommended transporting waste in sealed containers to prevent spills, and needles must be delivered in puncture-proof containers.
The event will take place at the Santa Ynez Valley Recycling and Transfer Station and is open for residents in Solvang and unincorporated county areas. Buellton residents are asked to wait until their city collection event, which will take place on May 7. No appointment is required for individuals, but businesses are asked to call ahead.
This article appears in Mar 31 – Apr 7, 2016.