Household hazardous waste collection resumes with east King County Wastemobile stop, May 23

Popular King County program celebrating 19th year of safeguarding environment

East King County residents can finish their spring cleaning by safely dispose of car batteries, oil and other household hazardous items when the King County Wastemobile continues its 19^th year of service with a visit to the Woodinville Park and Ride, May 23-25.

This event is followed by another east county Wastemobile stop at the Fred Meyer Store in Kirkland, May 30-June 1.

The Wastemobile is operated by King County as part of the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program. King County residents can drop off hazardous household waste items, including pesticides, chlorine bleach, oil-based paints, automotive products (oil, antifreeze, auto batteries, etc.), fluorescent bulbs/ballasts and other items free of charge.

King County residents are helping safeguard the environment by properly disposing of these materials and keeping them out of drains and landfills.

One item that will no longer be accepted during household hazardous waste collection events is latex paint. Research has shown that dried or solidified latex paint can be safely disposed through the regular solid waste process.

The Wastemobile will be located in the Woodinville Park and Ride at 140th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 179th Place, while the Kirkland Wastemobile will be at the Fred Meyer store at 12221 off 120th Avenue Northeast.

These Wastemobile events will be followed by a visit to Enumclaw, June 6-8, at the Enumclaw Exposition Center, formerly the King County Fairgrounds. Additional visits to a variety of King County locations are scheduled for later in the spring.

"The intent of the program is to ensure safe, proper disposal of hazardous products people have in their homes," said Julie Mitchell of King County's Solid Waste Division. Created in 1989, the Wastemobile was the first program of its kind in the nation. In its 18 years in operation, the program collected more than 14,771 tons of household hazardous waste from over 328,650 customers.

“Our goal is to make disposal of these hazardous materials easy so that they won’t end up in the normal household trash,” Mitchell said. “The high number of residents that come out to these events lets us know that we are providing an important and convenient service.”

For more information, including acceptable materials and quantity limits, call the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program’s Hazards Line at 206-296-4692, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., except holidays. Recorded information is available after hours. Information is also available on the Wastemobile Web Site at www.govlink.org/hazwaste/house/disposal/wastemobile/index.html

Related Information:

Disposal of Household Hazardous Waste

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