Spring Cleaning Time

Spring has finally sprung for most of us in the northern climates and that means it's time to get everything cleaned back up again and get all that trash laying around our facilities and homes which has been neglected for months into the garbage dumpster or into the hands of a company such as ADCO who specializes in the disposal of hazardous waste. It is important to remember that when tidying up a facility or even your home it is of utmost importance to pay attention to labels on things to be sure it is safe to be disposed of as regular trash or if it must go as a hazardous waste so we have some tips to help expedite your spring cleaning.

One of the most common items we receive constant calls for disposal of every spring is old paint. Paint that has been left in non-heated garages and warehouses where it froze during the winter months must now be disposed of and not all paint must be disposed of as a hazardous waste. Most municipalities have allowed latex and waterborne paints to be disposed of as regular trash as long as you have allowed the paint in the cans to harden and it must pass what is known as the paint filter test meaning it won't pass through a filter with the same type of thickness as a paper towel. Stains and finishes and items such as Thompson's Water Seal that was left out to freeze also must be disposed of but these items CANNOT be disposed of as regular trash! Oil based paints will not harden in the can like Latex paints will and therefore we suggest you not even waste your time in trying to harden them and just take an inventory of what it is you have and some photos of the cans of paint so we can see what packaging will be required and call it into ADCO or e-mail it into us so we can get you a quote.

Items such as spray paints and WD40 type products as well as other aerosols contain a propellant in the cans under pressure which is flammable. Aerosol cans must be empty to be disposed of as regular trash so we recommend using the product until the can is completely empty so it can be disposed of as regular trash. Cans with only a little residue left in them can be sprayed out onto sheets of cardboard or old wood and then disposed of as regular trash, however for cans that no longer spray but still contain material or full cans of obsolete product, these must be disposed of with a company such as ADCO who specializes in the proper disposal of such products.

The next items that we receive constant calls for year round actually is "What do I do with old Gasoline" or "How do I dispose of my old motor oil" or "What do I do with old anti-freeze"? These are constants year round and it is important to remember that NONE of these products can be disposed of down the drain nor dumped onto the soil. We recommend that for residents you may want to contact your local oil change shops and see if any of them are willing to accept these old fluids in for recycling or in some cases for those in northern climates such as Wisconsin and Minnesota, many of those auto shops have what are known as Oil burning furnaces which are meant to burn old motor oil and heat the shop. Many of these facilities with these type of furnaces will welcome you dropping off free fuel for their heaters so you may want to go that route if you know someone with an oil burning furnace. If you are not that lucky to know someone with a oil burning furnace, then you will have to either hold onto the waste and dispose of it at your municipality's next household hazardous waste drop day or drop site they have set up OR contact a company such as ADCO to take your old automotive waste away for proper disposal.

Random chemical waste is the tricky one that throws almost everyone once discovered. Items such as pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, acids, bases, flammable liquids, etc. We recommend if you find this material in your garage or shop and want to dispose of it, you first go on Google and type in the product's name and model so for instance if you have a bottle of Round Up Weed Killer you would type in that on a Google search then after that enter in MSDS. This will pull up the product's material safety data sheet for you to review and find out what is in the product and if it is indeed hazardous or not. Usually right in line 14 it will tell you if this product contains a hazardous shipping name or not. Items that contain hazardous shipping names MUST be disposed of properly with a company such as ADCO and for products that are marked as Non-RCRA or Non-Hazardous we still recommend you dispose of the product properly with a company such as ADCO instead of trying to dispose of the product as regular trash.

Items such as old furniture and appliances we recommend you contact your local municipality for disposal of as this is not really a field we specialize in. E-Waste items are hit or miss with us and if you have a high volume of e-waste to be disposed of then it would make sense to use ADCO Services for disposal of these items, however if you only have a monitor or a computer then you are better finding out when your next household hazardous waste drop day is through your local city or county and drop it off with them if you are a resident with a small amount of e-waste.

We hope this helps you out some with your spring cleaning efforts. Please feel free to contact an ADCO representative who is standing by to assist you with your disposal efforts.