The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) website highlights common products that we use in our daily lives that contain potentially hazardous ingredients, thus requiring special care when disposed of.
Items that are banned from the trash are as follows:
Lights, Batteries and Electronics
• Fluorescent light bulbs and tubes ("old school" incandescent bulbs can be thrown in the trash.)
• Batteries of all types and sizes, AAA, AA, C, D, button cell, 9-volt, etc., both rechargeable and single use, as well as lead-acid batteries such as car batteries
• Computer and television monitors including cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal diode (LCD), and plasma monitors
• Electronic devices including computers, printers, VCRs, cell phones, telephones, radios and microwave ovens
Household and Landscape Chemicals
• Flammables and poisons such as oil-based paints and reactive and explosive materials
• Acids, oxidizers, and bases including some pool chemicals and cleaners
• Pesticides and herbicides
• Paints and Solvents - latex paint, oil-based paint, non-empty aerosol paint and solvent cans, and solvents such as paint thinners, nail polish remover, etc.
• Building materials that contain asbestos and wood treated with chromium copper arsenate.
• Automobile items including antifreeze, batteries, motor oil and filters and tires (tires are not considered hazardous but are banned from the trash for other reasons)
• Items Containing Mercury including electrical switches and relays in old appliances, old style thermostats, pilot light sensors in some gas appliances, some gauges and mercury thermometers
• Other items such as propane tanks, hypodermic needles, syringes, etc.
So what to do with these items? Recycle and reuse them! Here are some local Ventura County resident options:
The City of Thousand Oaks has a Hazardous Waste Disposal program at THIS LINK.
City of Thousand Oaks battery recycling centers at THIS LINK.
Fluorescent light bulbs can also be brought to any Home Depot store for disposal.
Local computer and electronics recycling centers at THIS LINK.
City of Simi Valley hazardous Waste Drop-Off Program 6 Saturdays during the year www.ci.simi-valley.ca.us/index.aspx?page=243
Household battery recycling centers www.simivalley.org/index.aspx?recordid=1723&page=17
City of Camarillo twice a month hazardous waste drop-off events www.ci.camarillo.ca.us/i3.aspx?p=1022
City of Camarillo battery recycling center www.ci.camarillo.ca.us/i3.aspx?p=184
Cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme household hazardous waste collection events www.oxnard.org/household-hazardous-waste
Cities of Oxnard and Port Hueneme Antifreeze, Batteries, Oil and Paint Recycling www.ci.port-hueneme.ca.us/index.aspx?NID=1022
City of Moorpark hazardous waste drop-off events www.moorparkca.gov/150/Hazardous-Waste
Ventura County needle collection facilities www.moorparkca.gov/179/Needle-Sharps-Disposal
City of Ventura hazardous waste collection events www.cityofventura.net/HHW
City of Ojai hazardous waste collection options pwa.ventura.org/water-sanitation-department/household-hazardous-waste
Cities of Santa Paula and Fillmore hazardous waste collection and battery recycling www.ci.santa-paula.ca.us/PubWorks/Recycling-WasteManagement.pdf
Hazardous waste collection in Agoura, Calabasas and Malibu www.ci.agoura-hills.ca.us/government/departments/solid-waste-management/household-hazardous-waste-e-waste-disposal
