Household Hazardous Waste and E-Waste
Household Hazardous Waste
Have you ever wondered how to properly dispose of unwanted chemicals or electronic devices from your home? While Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) cannot accept household wastes, there are environmentally friendly options available to the public.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines household hazardous waste (HHW) as any unwanted household products that contain corrosive, toxic, ignitable or reactive ingredients. Examples of common HHW include paints, cleaners, oils, fuels, batteries, fluorescent or HID light bulbs, and pesticides. Disposal methods such as pouring HHW down the drain, on the ground or into storm sewers are not acceptable practices.
HHW should be taken to the Tippecanoe County Solid Waste Management District (located in Lafayette on North 9th Street) where it will be processed for proper hazardous waste disposal. The majority of HHW is accepted free of charge.
Electronic Waste
Electronic waste (e-waste) is not considered HHW by the EPA. However, because most e-waste contains lead and other hazardous constituents, e-waste cannot be disposed of in municipal solid waste landfills and should not be thrown in the trash. EHS works with Purdue University’s Surplus Store to properly manage and recycle e-waste.
Examples of items that are electronic waste and cannot go to landfill are televisions, computer monitors, computers, e-readers, fax machines, peripherals (including keyboards, mice, external hard drive, printers, projectors, etc.), DVD players, digital photo frames, digital media players, iPods, MP3 players, camcorders/cameras, DVR/TiVo devices, portable GPS navigation systems, etc.
University e-waste should be listed on the Property Accounting Form, sent to the Surplus Store where they will sell or recycle as appropriate. Further information and forms can be found on the Property Accounting website.
Links
The following links are external resources and may not meet Purdue’s accessibility standards: