Household Hazardous Waste Disposal

Household hazardous waste can adversely affect everyone's quality of life. That's why it is important to properly dispose of these items.

Wake County operates two permanent collection centers on a year-round basis for all Wake County residents to drop off hazardous materials.

• North Wake Sanitary Landfill off of Durant Road
• South Wake Municipal Solid Waste Landfill off Highway 55 between Apex and Holly Springs.

Both the North Wake collection center and the South Wake collection center are open six days a week providing residents with easy access to disposal of these harmful materials.
You may call Wake County directly at 919-856-7400 for more information or visit their web site.

Hazard Properties:

• Toxic - can cause injury or death if swallowed, absorbed, or inhaled.
• Flammable - can be ignited by a flame, spark, ignition source or hot surface under almost all temperature conditions.
• Corrosive - a chemical or its vapors that can burn or destroy living tissues at the site of contact, and deteriorate or wear away the surface of a material.
• Explosive - violently bursting when exposed to pressure or heat.

Disposing of Latex Paints:

*Latex paints are not considered hazardous waste and can safely be put in the garbage as long as they are completely dry or solidified first.

• If the can is 1/4 or less full, opening the lid and setting it in the sun for a day should do the trick.
• For cans over 1/4 full, mix with kitty litter, sawdust, sand or dirt (50/50 ratio), again allowing to completely dry.

The lid should be left off when putting the paint can and dried matter in the garbage. Full, unopened cans of paint are accepted at the Wake Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Avoid having left over paint by purchasing only the amount you need and using what's left for smaller projects like dog houses, closets, storage sheds, etc.

Did you know that each year do-it-yourself oil changers improperly dump more oil than the tanker Exxon Valdez spilled into Alaska's Prince William Sound?

When making purchases of these types of products, read the labels and choose the one with the least amount of toxicity, or use alternative item that you may already have at home.

Remember to take advantage of this facility to make your home and the environment safer!