In years past, Brunswick has hosted a Household Hazardous Waste Day in October for Brunswick and several surrounding towns, and those were generally fully preregistered in about an hour or so. This year, we are also holding a Household Hazardous Waste Day on April 24 that is limited to only Brunswick residents. It’s still necessary to preregister for a slot in the queue, but the competition is a lot less severe this time. As of my deadline for submitting my column, there were still many available slots.

The event is held at Brunswick Public Works, 9 Industry Road, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The collection event is operated by Environmental Projects, Inc. of Auburn and is free to Brunswick residents.

To register, go to tickettailor.com/events/publicworks/504903#, or get there by going to the public works page on the town website (brunswickme.org), and click the link to register from the paragraph about household hazardous waste. That will take you to brunswickme.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=171.

Fortunately, that is more straightforward than it looks here, and the signup itself is intuitive.

There is also an extensive informational flyer that can be downloaded from the signup page and will tell you what you need to know about what is acceptable as household hazardous waste and what is not. We recommend you read it before you sign up.

Household Hazardous Waste means products that the Environmental Protection Agency has determined can catch fire, react or explode under certain circumstances, or that are corrosive or toxic. Products such as cleaners, oils, batteries and pesticides can contain hazardous ingredients and require special care when you dispose of them. For much more information, visit the EPA website at epa.gov/hw/household-hazardous-waste-hhw.

Note that there are few alternatives to Household Hazardous Waste Day. Riverside Recycling, in Portland holds a Household Hazardous Waste Day on the first Saturday of the month between April and November, but they do have a charge for out-of-town residents to participate (plus having to drive the stuff to Portland in the first place). See more at riversiderecycles.com/hazardous-waste.

Maine residents or property owners can also bring household hazardous waste on the third Saturday of the month to the Environmental Depot located at 424 River Road in Lewiston, but there is also a fee for that service. The Western Maine Environmental Depot will be opening for the season on Saturday, May 15, from 8 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

Residents from non-participating municipalities can bring household hazardous waste to the Western Maine Environment Depot and will be charged $36 per unit, payable the day of drop-off by check or cash at the depot (a unit is 5 gallons of liquid or up to 20 pounds of dry waste). See me-avcog2.civicplus.com/977/Environmental-Depot-in-Lewiston.

The Recycle Bin is a weekly column on what to recycle, what not to recycle, and why, in Brunswick. The public is encouraged to submit questions by email to brunsrecycleinfo@gmail.com. Harry Hopcroft is a member of the Brunswick Recycling and Sustainability Committee. 

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