Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts is a public agency charged with converting waste into resources such as water, energy, and recycled materials. The agency consists of 07 special and independent districts that serve about 5.6 million people in Los Angeles County.
One of its most important programs is the Waste Collection Program Household Hazardous and Electronic Waste (HHW), which allows Angelenos to dispose of unwanted household chemicals legally and free of charge. This toxic waste such as motor oil, pesticides and electronics cannot be disposed of in normal trash as it can contaminate landfills.
“This is why we want to make sure that the things that are considered toxic or hazardous are disposed of properly instead of putting them in with everything else,” said Genesis Rodriguez, public affairs specialist with Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.
From 2022 to date the HHW program went from serving 1,80 households to 50, 343, which is equivalent to 1.5 million people.
This program began in the years 100 as a way to take care of Los Angeles County landfills. The goal of sanitation departments is to protect public health and the environment through innovative and cost-effective management of wastewater and solid waste, and in doing so, convert waste into resources such as recycled water, energy, and materials that can continue to having use.
Rodríguez said that some waste such as used motor oil, antifreeze, rechargeable batteries, computers and paint are recycled. Items that cannot be recycled, such as medications, needles, cleansers, poisons, and adhesives, are handled at proper disposal facilities.
“Approximately 57% of collected materials are recycled or reused and the 30% remaining is properly disposed of”, said Rodríguez.
Items that are not accepted in the program are explosives, ammunition or radioactive materials, trash or old tires, business waste, appliances such as washing machines, stoves, refrigerators or air conditioners, CDs, VCR tapes, vacuum cleaners or stereo speakers.
People are advised to pack their unwanted items in a sturdy box , preferably in their original and labeled containers and that do not mix the products together. Due to permit requirements and the volume of people using the program, items such as gas cans and containers are not returned.
There are events available throughout the year for different cities in the county and there are some permanent locations such as Palmdale and Signal Hill.
Caring for the Earth
Rodríguez said that the Sanitation Districts are constantly offering educational and outreach materials to offer information about how to properly recycle toxic materials. They also constantly publish information on their social networks and website.
Additionally, the Sanitation Districts are part of the founders from the Think Earth Environmental Education Foundation, which offers a kit program free for children from pre-kindergarten to grade 8, with interesting lessons, colorful posters and a video.
The program teaches them to think about the Earth; In addition, children learn the importance of a clean and healthy environment, and what they can do to conserve natural resources, reduce waste and minimize pollution.
They have also partnered with Grades of Green, a nonprofit environmental organization, to inspire children and youth to actively care for Mother Nature. The Grades of Green Water and Waste Campaigns are four-month competitions in which students work closely with teams from around the world; the goal is to obtain green grants valued at up to $1,04 and are awarded for their initiatives and impact as judged by a panel of environmental experts.
Other programs to take care of Mother Earth that the Departments of Sanitation support are “Follow the Flow”, to find out where they come from and where they send the waste liquids and solids; “No drugs down the Drain” to learn about the safe disposal of unused medications and “Think Watershed” to learn about the impact of the watershed on the marine environment and how human behavior affects the quality of the air, water and habitat in general.
For a complete list of upcoming events as well as the different programs for care for the environment visit Lacsd.org/hhw
The next HHW collection events are from 9am to 3pm at the following locations:
South Gate; /23/23
South Gate Park
Tweedy Blvd. & Hildreth Ave.
South Gate, CA 90280
Azusa; /30/22
Northrop Grumman
West 3rd Street & Zachary Padilla Avenue
Azusa, CA 91702
The look; /07/22
La Mirada Regional Park, Tennis Courts Parking Lot
13701 Oleander Drive
La Mirada, CA 90638
Florence/Firestone; /07/22
Roosevelt Park Senior Center
7600 Graham Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90280
Lake Los Angeles; 5/14/22
Vista San Gabriel Elementary School
18020 East Avenue “ OR”
Lake Los Angeles, CA 93591