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Permanent Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program Update

In order to better serve the residents of the county, one-day collection events are being replaced with permanent HHW drop-off locations that will be open on a routine schedule. We had planned for the first site to be opened in the fall of 2011. Unfortunately, an unforeseen conflict with other necessary site improvements has caused delays. We know these delays are frustrating to residents and scheduled spring 2012 collection events to help compensate for the delays.

Permanent Program Summary

The permanent program has been made possible thanks to funding in part by a grant from the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and a partnership with the Metropolitan Sewer District. The district grant enables the permanent program to be regional. St. Louis City and Jefferson County residents will also have access to drop off materials. Highlights of the permanent program include:

1. Secure sites where a resident can take HHW materials and conveniently have them properly disposed and/or recycled.
2. A reservation system where a resident can schedule a convenient time to drop-off materials and thus eliminate long wait times. The reservation system will be accessed through a website for those that have internet access. Those without internet access will be able to make appointments by phone.
3. The reservation website will also promote and educate residents on proper HHW management.
4. To encourage reducing the amount of HHW that needs handling and to conserve limited funds, DOH or the district grant will only cover the cost for the first 50 pounds of HHW. Additional pounds of HHW will be accepted for a fee.
5. Latex paint, a non-hazardous product, will continue to be accepted for recycling, but the costs to cover this service will be paid by the resident.

Permanent Site Locations and Status The first permanent site will be located at 291 Hoffmeister, St. Louis MO 63125 on the grounds of Metropolitan Sewer District’s Lemay Waste Water Treatment Plant. A second site is currently planned for the now vacated DOH Animal Shelter located on 7 Hills Road in North County. The following is the most current project progress and timeline that will be continually updated:

Program Sustainability

The HHW program is part of the DOH waste diversion and recycling initiatives that are funded by a voter approved landfill surcharge fee. As county landfills close and as residents increase recycling, those funds are diminishing. Hazardous waste management is expensive. The permanent program will be more cost-effective than one-day events, but we are faced with difficult choices to continue to provide options for proper management of HHW.

We understand that charging for latex paint and limiting disposal quantities of HHW under the permanent program may seem to contradict goals to divert these materials from landfill disposal. However, continuing to provide “free” options to residents is not sustainable. Nor does it encourage residents to reduce the amount of HHW they create.

With proper planning, left-over HHW can often be avoided. A key component of the permanent program will be educational tools on how to reduce HHW and to provide other options for recycling some of the common HHW materials we frequently collect at our events. This information will be part of the reservation website that will also include calculators to help estimate weights of HHW and latex paint. Residents can then decide what materials they wish to manage through the HHW program and have an estimated cost if applicable.

The permanent program is a step toward a more sustainable system for management of these problem wastes. The complete solution will take a commitment by consumers, manufacturers, retailers and government to implement a program that first minimizes the amount of HHW generated and then provides adequate funding to assure public health and the environment is protected by safe recycling and disposal of HHW.

Partial funding for the regional Saint Louis Household Hazardous Waste program is provided by the St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. Additional funding comes from Saint Louis County voter approved landfill surcharge fees.