Household hazardous waste plants on cards

by Kate Munro

May 1, 2008

WONDERING what to do with those leftover tins of paint and old chemicals cluttering up your garage?

The imminent introduction of a waste collection, storage and disposal program from WA’s Environment Department could solve your problem.

Part of the government’s push for alternative waste technologies, the program will establish several local drop-off centres for householders to junk their hazardous waste.

Jill Lethlean, from the department’s waste management branch, said more community disposal sites would create awareness, and encourage residents to discard dangerous goods correctly.

“People don’t want to do the wrong thing,” Dr Lethlean said, “so if we have more local drop-off points it will become a lot easier and more convenient for people to do the right thing and get rid of their waste safely.”

Dr Lethlean said improper disposal of paint, pool chemicals, fluorescent globes, batteries and pesticides posed a threat to community safety and the environment.

“If hazardous waste goes into the bin, it is a danger for the garbage collectors and once it reaches landfill it can leach out into the environment and cause damage,” she said. “When chemicals and pesticides end up down the drain, they affect the sewerage system which plays havoc with bio-solids used on farmlands.”

Dr Lethlean said she is often surprised by the variety of hazardous waste found in households.

“About half of what we collect is paint,” she said, “but we get small amounts of very dangerous chemicals such as mercury, strong acids and alkalines and occasionally illegal substances that people just have hanging around in their backyard.”

Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales have run successful household hazardous waste collection programs for several years. And now, the WA environment department will Sydney-based company, Asterisk One, $47,300 to design a similar program.

Dr Lethlean said the WA program may include regular collection days at local waste centres.

“We recently had a pilot drop-off at the Brockway Transfer Station in Nedlands and cars were queuing around the block,” she said. “It showed that if you make people more aware, they come in droves.”

The collection, storage and disposal program is expected to be costly, with $800,000 invested in the last three years just to dispose of hazardous waste.