The Merced County Regional Waste Management Authority (Authority) is hosting a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) event in conjunction with the City of Los Banos community Fall Clean Up on Saturday, Sept. 17, from 8AM to noon. The HHW event will be held at the fairgrounds located at 403 F Street in Los Banos.
Please note, the Household Hazardous Waste event is open to all residents and businesses of Merced County, but the community clean up is for City of Los Banos residents only.
Recycling batteries is a top priority for the Authority this fall as there have been several fires at the Billy Wright landfill near Los Banos which appear to have been caused by batteries that had been improperly disposed of in household trash bins.
All batteries are considered hazardous waste as they are prone to combustion and should never be placed in household garbage containers or blue bins. Lithium-ion batteries such as those in mobile phones, laptops, tablets, power tools, drones, scooters, and hover boards are especially dangerous. Batteries can be disposed of for free at the landfill, at HHW events, at Home Depot or through the biggreenbox.com program.
There is no cost for residents within Merced County to bring HHW to the event but a discounted rates will apply to businesses. Before bringing items out to the facility, residents may call Clean Harbors at 916-396-1505 to identify the amount and type of HHW that will be dropped off. Please note, under State of California transportation regulations, there are quantity limitations on how much HHW can be brought to the event at one time; contact Clean Harbors for details.
HHW is any household product that contains ingredients that are corrosive, reactive, flammable, and/or toxic. Some examples of HHW are ammonia-based cleaners, fluorescent tubes, car batteries, paint, and used motor oil. Items commonly found in homes that cannot be brought to the landfill at any other time except HHW collection days include wet chlorine tablets, full or partially full aerosol containers, and lithium-ion batteries that have started to bulge or become hot.
For more information on types of HHW or what quantities will be accepted at the landfill, please visit www.mcrwma.org/31/Household-Hazardous-Waste or call the Regional Waste Authority at (209) 723-4481.