What You Need to Know About Asbestos, from the Vermont Department of Health

HazWaste Center Hours:

• The HazWaste Center is open every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 8 AM to Noon.
• You can also check out the HazWaste Center days on the District Calendar

The HazWaste Center also accepts hazardous wastes from businesses that qualify as conditionally exempt generators. All businesses are responsible for paying the full disposal cost of their hazardous waste. Businesses must also pre-register and arrange an appointment time to dispose of hazardous waste.

If you are a business, call 388-2333, Ext. 22 for more information on generator status. To receive an appointment time, download the HazWaste Center CEG Registration Form.

What is household hazardous waste (HHW)?

Hazardous wastes are materials with hazardous ingredients in them. Product labels with the words “Danger”, “Poison”, or “Warning” should be kept out of the regular trash. Some hazardous products found around the home include:

• Pesticides
  • Weed killers
  • Insecticides
  • Fertilizers with weed killer
  • Wood preservatives
  • Rodent poisons
• Paint products
  • Paints and thinners
  • Paint removers
  • Stains and varnishes
  • Epoxies and adhesives
• Cleaning products
  • Drain openers
  • Oven cleaners
  • Metal or furniture polish
  • Spot removers
• Automotive products
  • Gasoline
  • Solvents
  • Brake fluids
  • Transmission fluids
  • Antifreeze
  • Batteries
  • Polishes and wax
• Other
  • Thermometers and thermostats containing mercury
  • Fluorescent light bulbs
  • Batteries
  • Pool chemicals
  • Photo chemicals

For more information, see:

• A more inclusive list of examples of household hazardous waste waste.
• How to Dispose of Sharps and Syringes
• Learn About Toxics: an interactive guide to commonly encountered toxic substances

Save Time and Hassle:

• Be Careful! Make sure your hazardous waste is securely packaged to avoid spills during transport.
• Empty paint cans are trash, not hazardous waste. If you have empty paint cans, let them dry completely, leave the lids off and put them in your regular trash.
• Propane Tanks: We do NOT accept full or partially full propane tanks. Please use ALL your propane and bring only completely empty tanks to the transfer station in Middlebury for recycling.
• NOT ACCEPTED: Laboratory chemicals, fireworks, flares, explosives, ammunition, smoke detectors, radioactive waste, and medical waste.

Used motor oil, and all vehicle crankcase and gearbox oils including gear oil, hydraulic fluid, motor oil, power steering fluid, transmission fluid, 2-cycle oil, and bar and chain oil are accepted at the District Transfer Station.

Residents and businesses may bring used oil to the Transfer Station during all normal operating hours.  Call ahead if you have large quantities of oil (388-2333).  Also please call first before bringing oil in containers greater than 5 gallon-size.

Please note:  For safety reasons, spill prevention, and possible contamination issues,  customers should NOT pour off their own oil at the Transfer Station.  Instead, place oil containers upright with lids intact in the black plastic storage trays located adjacent to the large tank.  If you need your empty container back, a Transfer Station Operator will pour your oil for you while you wait. 

Ideally, the used oil container should be clear or translucent so that District staff can visually inspect the contents.  All used oil must be free of contaminants such as water, gas, diesel, antifreeze, transformer oil (PCBs), etc.  Containers should also be sturdy, with no holes, cracks, or other leaks.  The lid should be securely attached.  Please transport containers safely.  If containers are in the back of a pick-up truck, please be careful to secure them so that they do not tip or fall over.

NOTE:  Empty plastic motor oil bottles are not accepted locally as recyclables and should be disposed of with your regular trash.

Cost:  There is no fee for small amounts of uncontaminated used oil from District residents or businesses.  Businesses with large quantities of used oil may be charged fees if large containers (drums) must be managed, or if testing of the oil is required.  If used oil is found to be contaminated, the District may charge the full disposal cost for the contaminated material. 

Oil Filters

Did you know that even after draining, a used oil filter may still contain up to 40% of its total capacity?  Residents and businesses may bring oil filters to the District Transfer Station for proper recycling.  The filters should be drained, and may be either crushed or uncrushed.  The fee is $0.25 per filter, or $35.00 for a 55-gallon drum full (crushed or uncrushed).  Fuel filters are prohibited, and should be brought to the District HazWaste Center.

If you are a business looking to recycle your oil filters, please see the Fact Sheet on Oil Filters from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

Unregulated Medical Waste

Also known as Home Generated Medical Waste, includes syringes, sharps, and other medical waste such as bandages, dressings, or medical bags that are generated from home medical use, and not adminstered by a licensed healthcare professional.

Bandages, dressings or medical bags should be placed in a separate container, sealed, and clearly labeled before being placed in the regular household trash.

See this article for more information on how to dispose of syringes and sharps from unregulated medical waste or home generated medical waste.

Regulated Medical Waste

This is the portion of waste generated in the medical industry which requires special handling and treatment prior to disposal. For detailed information on treatment and disposal requirements please refer to the State of Vermont Handling and Treatment of Medical Waste Procedures.

What is Regulated Medical Waste?

The following types of solid waste are considered Regulated Medical Waste (RMW) if generated in the medical industry or by a health-care professional while in your home.

• Pathological Waste: human blood, blood products, and other body fluids. Any liquid waste including blood, blood products, or items saturated or dripping with blood or other potentially infectious body fluids
• Cultures and shocks of infectious agents
• Sharps (used or unused): objects that are capable of cutting or penetrating the skin and inducing subdermal inoculation of an infectious agent. This includes needles, Pasteur pipettes and scalpel blades.
• Animal waste: animal carcasses, body parts, bedding and other items from animals that are known or suspected by either the Department of Health or the Department of Agriculture of being contaminated with organisms that can produce disease in humans; and that disposal by burial or other ordinarily acceptable means would not sufficiently reduce the risk of transmission of a disease to humans or other animals
• Chemotherapy waste
• Infectious isolation waste: biological waste and discarded materials contaminated with blood, body fluids, excretion, exudates or secretions from humans who are isolated to protect others from dangerous incommunicable diseases
• Biotechnological by-product effluents: any discarded preparation made from genetically altered living organisms

Sharps are syringes, lancets and other types of medical equipment that are used in the treatment of diabetes, allergies or other forms of home health care. Discarding loose sharps or syringes in the trash poses a risk to the people that collect and handle your garbage. Used sharps can pass on germs and diseases. Even a single needle stick from a contaminated sharp can transmit diseases like Hepatitis B.

The Solution

First, contact your doctor to see if they can provide you with a disposal option for your sharps. If they can’t, you should dispose of your home-generated sharps in the following way:

1. Place used needles and other sharps in a 2 liter (#1 plastic PETE) soda bottle. Keep the bottle capped when not in use.
2. When the bottle is full, cap it tightly and label it: WARNING: SHARPS! DO NOT RECYCLE! Call 388-2333 to request free sharps stickers.
3. Seal the bottle cap with heavy tape (duct tape works well for this purpose)
4. So they’ll know to be extra careful, please call your garbage hauler to let them know before you place this container in the trash.
5. Place the filled, sealed and labelled bottle in your regular household trash.

NEVER PLACE SHARPS CONTAINERS IN YOUR RECYCLING BIN.

PETE (#1) is recommended because it has been shown to be more puncture resistant than other types of plastic bottles. Check the bottom of the bottle for the #1 PETE chasing arrow symbol.

The aforementioned rules apply to HOME GENERATED sharps only. Businesses (including doctors, home health care nurses, dentists, veterinarians, and tattoo parlors) which generate sharps or other medical wastes should contact the District office, 388-2333, for information on proper and legal management options.