Household Hazardous Waste

Is your home safe from toxics?

Open your cupboards and closets and check the shelves in your garage or hobby area and count the number of products that have the words caustic, corrosive, danger, explosive, flammable, poison, toxic, or warning on them. Thousands of common household products are toxic.

The following items should not be thrown out with your regular trash:

Kitchen Cleaning products Aerosol containers Oven cleaner Drain cleaner	Bathroom Cleaning products Drain cleaner Hair products
Bedroom Batteries Medicines Nail polish Nail polish remover	Closets Furniture polish Lighter fluid Shoe polish Hobby chemicals
Garage Motor oil and oil filters Paint (oil based & latex) Paint thinner Vehicle batteries Antifreeze Brake & transmission fluid Car batteries	Yard & Garden Pesticides Pool cleaners Herbicides Pest poisons Gas and kerosene Other flammables

To schedule an appointment to drop off household hazardous waste at a Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste disposal facility, call the appointment line at: (408) 299-7300. Household Hazardous Waste drop-offs are by appointment only.

For more information about household hazardous waste, please contact the Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste program.

Service Restrictions:

The Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste program does not accept household hazardous waste in containers larger than five gallons.

The Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste program does not accept radioactive waste, ammunition or explosives.

PLEASE NOTE: Keep items identified as dangerous out of the reach of small children and pets. According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, 60% of all poisonings involve children under six years of age. The most common products involved in these poisonings are household chemicals, cleaning products, drugs (prescription and over-the-counter), and cosmetics.

On September 1, 2008, a new state law took effect that made it illegal to dispose of sharps waste in the trash or recycling containers. The law requires that all sharps waste be transported to a collection center in an approved sharps container. Home-generated sharps waste includes hypodermic needles, syringes and lancets that are used for medical purposes. Improper disposal of sharps waste not only poses a threat of environmental contamination of surface and groundwater, but may also affect the health and safety of sanitation workers, adults, children and even pets.

What Should You Do With Your Sharps Waste?

Take-back Programs By Doctors, Pharmacies, Hospitals and Medical Clinics:

Place home-generated sharps waste in biohazard containers. The containers are available for purchase at local pharmacies and some office supply stores. Then contact your health care providers, local pharmacists, hospitals or clinics to ask if they offer a take-back program.

Countywide Household Hazardous Waste Program:

Drop-Off Sites:

Note: Residents MUST place sharps waste in biohazard sharps containers, which are available for purchase at your local pharmacy, before bringing it to sharps waste drop-off locations.

For more information on pharmacies and other locations that accept used sharps waste within the Santa Clara County or to use its Online Appointment System to dispose of your sharps waste, visit Santa Clara Department of Health: Household Hazardous Waste Program or call 408-299-7300.

Mail Back Services:

If you purchase sharps on-line, please remember to request a pre-addressed, prepaid mail-back box for your used sharps. A list of mail back services can be found at
California Department of Health: Medical Waste Management Program.

Visit California Integrated Waste Board for a list of companies that are authorized to provide sharps waste mail back services in California.