Do you still have pool chemicals even though the pool is long gone?
Do you still have a darkroom stocked with photographic chemistry even though you’ve been processing photos on your computer for years?
Do you still have that chemistry set your daughter hasn’t looked at in decades?
If you have those chemicals, or any of a myriad of household products you know shouldn’t go in the trash, the city’s health department has good news for you.
The municipal waste transfer station at Twiss Street will be open on Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon to accept household hazardous waste.
The Westfield Director of Public Health, Michael Suckau, said that the city’s health department stages household hazardous waste collections on an 18 month cycle and the last such collection was in the fall of 2010.
He said that residents are urged to bring hazardous material to the collection in their original sealed containers, if possible. Material which cannot be positively identified may be rejected.
Screw top containers are preferred and the sealed containers should be transported upright in sturdy boxes and padded with newspapers to avoid breakage or spillage.
Each product container should be kept separately and chemicals should never be mixed together.
Herbicides, mothballs and most pesticides will be accepted for disposal but pesticides containing 2-4-5-T. Silvex, a pesticide ingredient banned by the EPA in 1979, will not be accepted.
Suckau said that batteries, both household dry cells and automotive acid/lead batteries will not be accepted at the hazardous waste collection, as they are accepted routinely at the transfer station.
Automotive products such as transmission fluid, carburetor cleaner, brake fluid and degreasers are acceptable, as well as flammable products such as waste gasoline, kerosene and lighter fluids, but explosive items including ammunition and fireworks will not be taken.
Motor oil, antifreeze and oil filters are will not be accepted at the collection, as those products are accepted at the transfer station any Saturday (except when the facility is closed on Saturdays from December until April) between 7-11:45 a.m.
Oil based paints, stains and varnishes can be taken to the transfer station but similar water based products will not be accepted.
The health department suggests that latex paints in good condition be given to somebody who can use them and any other latex paint can be discarded with regular trash – after it has dried out.
Latex paint will dry and harden if left uncovered but the process can be accelerated by mixing clean cat litter or clay absorbent into the paint. After two or three days, when the paint is dry enough that it no longer flows, uncovered containers may be added to regular trash.
Household cleaning products such as furniture, floor and metal polishes, spot removers and cleaning solvents may be turned in at the Twiss Street collection.
Solvents, thinners and adhesives will be accepted as will aerosol cans and compressed gas cylinders weighing less than 20 pounds but commercial and industrial waste will be rejected.
All medical and biohazard waste is prohibited including hypodermic syringes and needles, infectious material and prescription drugs.
Prescription drugs, however, can be disposed of responsibly at a collection coincidentally staged the same Saturday, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Westfield Police Department.
Asbestos materials and smoke detectors will be rejected at Twiss Street and no radioactive waste will be accepted.
