Through the passage of Maine’s e-waste and mercury products laws, Maine has made considerable progress towards addressing toxic hazards from our waste stream. However, we still have a significant problem with household hazardous waste and the dangerous legacy of toxic trash.
Mainers collectively dispose of approximately 20 million pounds of hazardous waste with their trash every year. Household hazardous waste collection events typically gather substantial quantities of pesticides, bleach, solvents, oil-based paints, paint strippers, chemical cleaning compounds, disinfectants, air fresheners, waste oil, antifreeze and other hazardous household products. Many of these compounds are either flammable, poisonous, reactive, explosive, carcinogenic or some combination of all the above. When handled improperly, these materials can threaten the health and safety of municipal trash handlers, damage sewer systems, contaminate groundwater and drinking water, and cause harm to the environment and public health.
NRCM continues to work to educate Maine people about the problem of household hazardous waste and to ensure that state and local programs have adequate resources to protect the environment and public health.