Household Hazardous Materials

Do you know how to properly dispose of your household hazardous materials? The Santa Clara County Fire Department can send you information regarding hazardous waste disposal and refer you to the proper free disposal sight. If you would like to learn more about this program or have additional questions, please contact the Public Education Office.

Additional helpful links

Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program: www.hhw.org

The Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program helps protect the environment and public health by collecting and properly disposing of hazardous waste from homes and small businesses. This program also provides the community with practical pollution prevention options for the use and recycling of products containing hazardous substances. If you would like to schedule a drop-off at one of the designated facilities, please call the Santa Clara County HHW appointment line at 408.299.7300, Monday through Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm.

Earth 911: http://www.earth911.com or 1.800.CLEANUP (1.800.253.2687, bilingual hotline)
Offers the most comprehensive, user-friendly recycling and product disposal information available. Provides recycling and product disposal resources for over 200 families of materials, and is the only recycling search on the web, with information for over 100,000 programs and locations across the U.S., including:

Municipal curbside programs In-store, retail programs Drop-off locations and centers Mail-back programs Local & municipal events

Fluorescent Lamp Drop-off Locations for Residents (compact bulbs & straight, circular, spiral, & U-bent tubes): http://www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs/SCC%20Public%20Portal/attachments/Retailers.pdf

Home Safety Council: http://www.homesafetycouncil.org/resource_center

National Fire Protection Association: www.nfpa.org/

Medication Disposal Unwanted or Expired: 800.CLEAN.UP or 800.253.2687 www.earth911.com
Because of environmental concerns, it is no longer recommended to flush unwanted or expired medications down the toilet. To locate a drop off location for your area, click on the link above and enter "unwanted medication" and your zip code.

California Materials Exchange (CalMAX): www.ciwmb.ca.gov/calmax
CalMAX is a free service designed to help businesses find markets for nonhazardous materials they have traditionally discarded. CalMAX helps businesses, industries, and institutions save resources and money.

For more information on waste reduction and recycling in the following counties, visit these sites:

Alameda County: http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp

Contra Costa County: http://www.co.contra-costa.ca.us

Marin County: http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/pw/main/wastemanagement.cfm

Mendocino County: http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/eh/hazmat.htm

Merced County: http://web.co.merced.ca.us/health/envhlth/cupa.html

Monterey County: http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/Health/EnvironmentalHealth/recycling.htm

Napa County: http://www.co.napa.ca.us/Gov/Departments/DeptDefault.asp?DID=40500

Solano County: http://www.co.solano.ca.us/SubSection/SubSection.asp?NavID=245&DeptID=10&SearchString=recycle&SearchPhrase=#hilightstart

San Benito County: http://www.san-benito.ca.us/departments/iwm/city_sjb.htm

San Joaquin County: http://www.sjgov.org/solidwaste

San Mateo County: http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/smc/department/dpw/home/0,,5562541_9876753_78979546,00.html

Santa Cruz County: http://www.dpw.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/recycle.htm

Sonoma County: http://www.recyclenow.org/

Stanislaus County: http://www.co.stanislaus.ca.us/LivingAndWorking/ProtectTheEnvironment/ProtectEnvironment.htm