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1999 Household Hazardous Waste Collection Schedule Set for Southeastern Pennsylvania

Release Date: 3/24/1999
Contact Information: Donna M. Heron (215) 814-5113

PHILADELPHIA - During your annual spring cleaning, you found some half-used bottles of insecticide; plus the chemicals left over from your photography phase; oil-based paint from a redecorating project; old motor oil, antifreeze, turpentine and model airplane glue.

You want to get rid of this stuff. But how?  It’s tempting -- and it would be so easy -- to just throw it out with the regular household trash, flush it down the toilet or pour it down the drain.

But if the words 'Caution, Toxic, Danger, Flammable, Warning, Corrosive, Explosive, Reactive, Combustible, Poisonous or Hazardous' appear anywhere on the label, don’t do it.

It might not be noticed right away but eventually those hazardous materials can get into the ground water and contaminate drinking water; pollute septic systems and wastewater treatment systems; injure plant and animal life and harm children if the half-full containers are stored around the house.

They can also cause injury or death.  Particularly at risk are sanitation workers. In 1997 a New York trash hauler died when he was unknowingly exposed to a toxic chemical that had been discarded by a laboratory.  In California a study found that three percent of all garbage collectors in the state were injured annually after coming into contact with hazardous waste that is casually tossed into residential trash cans.

Each person in the U.S. produces an average of four pounds of hazardous household waste a year.  That’s 530,000 tons a year.  But what exactly is it?

Some jobs around the home require the use of products containing hazardous components such as oil-based paint, stains, varnishes, car batteries and pesticides.  It’s the leftovers you didn’t use that are defined as household hazardous waste. Plus all the used batteries that have been piling up from flashlights, remote controls, toys and other battery-operated appliances.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is making it easy for residents of the Southeastern region to dispose of the hazardous waste they’ve accumulated.  DEP has put together 20 collection days at locations throughout Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.

These drop-off events do work.  A Seattle official reported that a pint of mercury brought to a household hazardous waste collection site would have contaminated the entire region’s sewage system if it had been poured down the drain.

Residents can drop off their items from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. except for July 23 at the Philadelphia Northwest Transfer Station which will be open from 1 to 7 p.m.  For a complete list of the materials that will be accepted at the drop-off events, call the Household Hazardous Waste Hotline at 215-238-9991.

For additional information, call the county recycling centers.

Bucks County: 215-345-3400
Chester County: 610-344-5937
Delaware County: 610-892-9627
Montgomery County: 610-278-3618
Philadelphia: 215-686-5560


Drop Off Schedule Attached

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Southeastern Pennsylvania Household Hazardous Waste
1999 Program Schedule


March 27 Philadelphia: First Highway Yard on Parkside Avenue
April 24 Delaware County - Darby Township - Emergency Services Training Center
May 1 Montgomery County - Temple University Ambler Campus
May 8 Chester County - Bucktown - Owen J. Roberts High School
May 8 Philadelphia: Streets Training Center on State Road
May 22 Bucks County: Tullytown Landfill
June 5 Delaware County: Marple Township Transfer Station
June 19 Bucks County: Middle Bucks Institute of Technology
June 26 Philadelphia: Northwest Transfer Station
July 10 Montgomery County - Towamencin Township -  Walton Farm Elementary School
July 23 Philadelphia: Northwest Transfer Station (Friday)
Aug. 21 Bucks County: Upper Bucks Vo-Tech School
Sept. 11 Delaware: Chester Township Transfer Station
Sept. 18 Chester County: New Garden Township Building
Oct. 2 Philadelphia: Southeast Transfer Station
Oct. 9 Chester County Government Services Center - West Chester
Oct. 9 Bucks County: Bristol Township Municipal Building
Oct. 16 Delaware County: Marple Township Transfer Station
Oct. 23 Montgomery County: Perkiomen Valley High School
Nov. 6 Philadelphia: Northeast Transfer Station

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