Many household products – including cleaning fluids, varnish, paint removers, fuel additives, pesticides, and gas cylinders – contain toxic and/or flammable ingredients. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets stringent requirements for hazardous waste generated by businesses, it does not regulate household products that contain the same hazardous materials. Known as Household Hazardous Waste (or “HHW”), these products should require special handling once consumers are finished using them.  

Many local governments run HHW collection events to help residents safely dispose of dangerous products, but these events are infrequent and often underfunded; others build and operate permanent facilities that collect HHW year-round, but at a major expense to taxpayers and government.  

As a result, many people simply throw these items in the trash or down the drain. These unsafe disposal practices contaminate the environment and threaten the safety of our drinking water; when stored at home, HHW puts children and pets at risk for poisoning and can cause fires or release dangerous pollutants during flooding.  

How can we safely dispose of Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) to protect people and the environment? Extended producer responsibility. In 2023, Vermont passed a first-in-the-nation HHW EPR bill, building on PSI’s research, which fueled the introduction of HHW EPR bills in Oregon and Vermont since 2015. HHW EPR programs have operated successfully in Canada since the 1990s: In Manitoba, collection volumes increased four-fold in the first five years of program implementation; in British Columbia, more than 130,000 gallons of HHW were collected in 2017.

What can you do? Tell your representatives that you support Household Hazardous Waste EPR legislation. Then, learn where to safely dispose of HHW in your community.

If you’re a PSI Member or Partner, search our Resource Library for in-depth information on HHW stewardship in the United States and around the world and our Legislation Library for a history of HHW EPR bills and laws in the U.S.