Holidays Create Special Waste

The holidays and seasonal chores often create the need for special waste disposal. These important disposal decisions are not made on a routine basis, so here are a few helpful holiday hints.

Gifts of upgraded tech gadgets and new home appliances may mean getting rid of the item being replaced. Or seasonal chores such as draining the oil and gas from a lawnmower, prepping the snow blower or changing the batteries in the smoke detector all generate waste that requires disposal of items that should not be placed in the regular household trash.

Prince William residents have convenient disposal options for electronics, appliances, batteries and automotive fluids. Don’t let those old items collect dust and clutter your space. Prince William County residents may bring up to three electronic items per visit to the Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics Recycling program at the Prince William County Landfill on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. free of charge.

During regular operating hours, residents may bring used motor oil, oil filters, antifreeze and lead-acid car batteries to the Landfill or Balls Ford Road Compost Facility. These sites also accept a variety of household batteries. Household appliances, like freezers, refrigerators, dishwashers and stoves, can also be brought to the Landfill any day and the Balls Ford Road facility Monday – Friday for proper disposal.

A variety of household and home improvement items can also be donated to Habit Restore or other reuse organizations. Likewise, old electronics may still be useable and could be donated for reuse instead of recycled.

Put some green in your holidays with proper recycling and disposal. Find appropriate disposal and recycling information on more than 300 items at pwcva.gov/disposalguide during the holidays and every day in Prince William County.