Tennessee’s Household Hazardous Waste Program has helped identify and properly manage HHW materials and chemicals. The success has been in educating Tennessee residents on hazardous waste and making it convenient for them to properly dispose of their HHW.

By Brook Powell

Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) is any unwanted or used household product that is flammable, corrosive, reactive or toxic. Improper disposal of HHW, whether by discarding into the trash, on the ground or down the drain, ultimately leads to its entrance into the water cycle. With much of Tennessee’s geology being webs of interconnected openings in limestone and dolomite for water to infiltrate, introducing hazardous waste can have a devastating impact on a widespread area. It is now known that HHW is the same type of hazardous waste that is generated by large industries, and the cumulative amount from all households adds up to a profound threat to the environment if disposed of improperly.

Collection Events

Average homes in Tennessee produce around 20 pounds of HHW per year. In order to provide safe and convenient collection of HHW, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Solid Waste Management has a Materials Management Program that established a HHW Mobile Collection Service in 1993. This service offers HHW collection twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring, and is open to all Tennessee residents.

There have been a total of over 1,000 one-day collection events to date, with more than 335,000 Tennessee families safely disposing over 22 million pounds of HHW. The 2016 Fall HHW season ended with 26 counties collecting 153,750 pounds of discarded HHW from 2,961 households in 49 events. This is a 7 percent increase from the previous year evaluated. HHW materials collected were:

  • 21,172 pounds: Pesticides, herbicides, rat poisons, insecticides, animal medications;
  • 15,939 pounds: Flammables, gasoline, charcoal lighters, kerosene, paint thinners;
  • 5,854 pounds: Aerosols, paint, health and beauty aids, lubricants, cleaners;
  • 3,537 pounds: Corrosive bases (Drano, sodium hydroxide);
  • 2,954 pounds: Corrosive acids (Sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, CLR cleaner, muriatic acid, battery acid);
  • 906 pounds: Oxidizers, bleach, chlorine, pool sanitizers; spa and hot tub sanitizers;
  • 36 pounds: Mercury

Education and Outreach

A large part of what makes these one-day HHW collection events so successful is the education and outreach the Materials Management Program conducts. “We have really seen the program progress through time and become more successful. A lot of that success is because of the education provided by the household hazardous waste program to the state residents,” says Bob Fletcher with TDEC’s Division of Solid Waste Management. They assist counties where one-day collection events are to be held, recommend advertising and promotion for the events to help maximize outreach, and educate participants that proper management is very important in protecting and preserving the environment with emphasis on water resources. Part of this is providing individuals with information on simple, yet effective alternatives to using hazardous materials. This includes making green cleaning products that are safe by using items such as baking soda, lemon, white vinegar, cornstarch, borax, isopropyl alcohol or citrus solvent.

Other HHW Materials

As new household materials are developed that provide problems for disposal and safe management, TDEC is proactive in searching for solutions of proper handling of these materials. An example would be an increased need for safe disposal options for sharps, needles, lancets and auto inject pens. Once this was expressed, it became an added option to bring to HHW collection events. By removing these items from the solid waste stream, the safety of the solid waste staff, haulers, landfill staff and maintenance staff has greatly increased. The convenience of this added disposal option has helped Tennessee residents tremendously.

Education on other department and local government programs is often available at HHW collection events. This includes onsite information about radon, which is a naturally occurring radioactive gas produced by the breakdown of uranium in rocks and soils. It is the second leading cause of lung cancer and responsible for nearly 20,000 lung cancer deaths every year. With radon being common in Tennessee and because it is tasteless, colorless and odorless, the Office of Sustainable Practices offers free test kits to detect if there is radon in your home. Some counties also coordinate paper shredding and electronics collections at the events. Drug take back programs may also be coordinated to increase the collection of take back of drugs and educate residents of the hazards of pharmaceuticals in the home.

Reducing the Environmental Footprint

The future for the Household Hazardous Waste Program looks bright as education and outreach has expanded to public schools across the state. The program has helped them to identify and properly manage materials and chemicals that may be in the science labs, janitorial and maintenance areas, and other trade education areas such as, automotive and agricultural. The success has been in educating Tennessee residents on hazardous waste and making it convenient for them to properly dispose of their HHW. Being a good steward and leaving as little of an environmental footprint as possible is a partnership that residents and Solid Waste Management must have because one cannot achieve it without the other. Tennessee is a naturally beautiful State and keeping the environment safe ultimately keeps residents and guests safe.

Brook Powell is an Environmental Specialist with the Office of Sustainable Practices. Her areas of focus are recycling, waste reduction, and reducing food waste at schools and other facilities. Brooke can be reached at [email protected]. For more information, visit www.tn.gov/environment/topic/sw-mm-household-hazardous-waste-program.

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