There are some products or items in your home that will not be labeled with these symbols yet are still considered household hazardous wastes. The proposed HHW legislation for Manitoba contains a detailed listing of the other items that are considered hazardous. These items include: common household appliances such as televisions and computers, pharmaceuticals, and paints.
All HHW poses serious environmental and human health threats is disposed of in your regular household waste. Explosive and flammable wastes can pose a threat to the garbage collectors and landfill employees. HHW can also pollute groundwater, soil and air. Hazardous waste is taken to the landfill with the rest of your garbage can leach into the surrounding soil and groundwater. Water that goes down your drain ends up in a water treatment plant. Water at the plant is then treated and released. However, many hazardous wastes can NOT be broken down in the treatment plant. That means that some of these hazardous chemicals can be released into rivers and lakes, causing environmental damage.
Where can you take Household Hazardous Waste for Safe Disposal?
Pouring household hazardous wastes down the drain or on the ground and throwing these materials in your regular household trash is not a safe way to dispose of these materials.
Not every community in Manitoba is set up like Ecoville with a permanent Hazardous Waste Depot. If you live close to Winnipeg you can drop off household hazardous wastes at Miller Environmental. If you do not live close to Winnipeg you will need to store your household hazardous wastes in a secure location until a one day household hazardous waste collection event is scheduled for your community. The province of Manitoba is working hard to increase the opportunities across Manitoba for the safe disposal of household hazardous waste. To learn more about what the Province is proposing visit read A Plan to Manage Household Hazardous Waste in Manitoba.
Until the Province's plan is implemented there are two main options for disposing of household hazardous waste:
1. If you live in or close to the City of Winnipeg you can take your household hazardous wastes to Miller Environmental at 65 Trottier Bay. They accept household hazardous waste on the first Saturday of each month from October - end of March 2003 and then the first and last Saturday of each month from April-Sept. Hours are 9 - 4 p.m.
Materials Accepted:
- aerosol cans
- varnish remover
- insect repellant
- cleaners (toilet, oven, drain)
- car batteries
- chemical lawn fertilizers
- paint brush cleaners/solvents
- propane cylinders
- antifreeze
- BBQ & camping fuel
- swimming pool chemicals
- weed, insect killer
- gasoline
- leftover paint (other than dried latex)
2. If you live in rural Manitoba and won't be visiting Winnipeg anytime soon your safest disposal option is to store your household hazardous wastes in a secure location until your community hosts a HHW Collection Day. To find out if there is household hazardous waste collection day coming up in your community visit the
Ecoville Clock Tower.
