Do Your Part

Look in any storage cabinet in your home or garage. Do you see products such as paint thinner, furniture polish, or aerosol cans? The average home is full of hazardous and special waste – from the cleaning products, drain openers, and expired medicines in our bathrooms, to the pool chemicals, pesticides and home-improvement products we keep in our garages and sheds.

Despite the environmental, health and safety risks, many of these items end up on the curb, flushed or tossed down sewers. Stewardship Ontario’s MHSW program was established to change all that. You can help us help the environment – and protect your health and that of your community – simply by dropping off leftovers and empty containers requiring special care. Before you do, get with the program and check out our dos and don’ts:

Waste not, want not: follow the BUD rule

Buy what you need, use it up and, only if you can’t use it up (or donate it to a friend, neighbour or community organization), dispose of designated materials through our drop-off program. The best way to manage hazardous or special waste is to prevent or reduce the amount you generate in the first place. Most of the products you buy – like paint, pesticides and fertilizer – are designed to be entirely used up. Buying in large quantities is no bargain – and in fact creates new costs at the end of a product’s life – if much of it has to be discarded.

Store your materials properly

Products classified as MHSW will last longer – and possibly stay out of the recycling stream altogether – if you store them properly and make sure containers or packaging are not leaking. Follow storage directions on labels or packaging, keep containers dry to prevent corrosion and avoid keeping them anywhere near food or sources of heat or flames.

Before you return materials get with the program – make sure your waste is covered

Not all hazardous materials are covered by the MHSW program. Some materials, such as used oil, are not covered by MHSW and others like old electronics or tires are covered by entirely different programs. Check the list of designated materials to see what's covered. Still not sure if your material is covered? Give us a call at 1-888-288-3360 or send an e-mail to werecyclestewardshipontario [dot] ca.

Get it right: right material, right site

It’s easy to find the nearest drop-off location – just search by material, community or postal code. While some collection points, particularly permanent municipal sites, accept all 22 material types, most retailers are only registered to accept certain wastes – and are prohibited from accepting other types. Please do not try to drop-off other types of waste or leave products in sites that are not official collection centres, where they can pose a health risk to others. The MHSW program is still relatively new, which means that some areas of the province host special events or collection days, rather than maintaining permanent drop-off depots. In these cases, please be patient and store all your hazardous and special waste materials in a sturdy box in a safe place (neither too cold nor too hot, away from children and pets) until you can dispose of them through the program.

Package and transport your materials safely

Before you drop your waste at a registered collection site, make sure products are in their original containers (where possible) and tightly sealed. If you are returning used medical sharps, make sure they’re packaged in a sealed and rigid container, preferably an approved sharps container that can be found at most pharmacies. If a product does not have its original label, or has had to be moved to a new container, label it yourself, but only if you’re 100% sure of the contents. If your container is deteriorating, place the entire container in another sealed container (with a new label), surrounded with non- flammable absorbent such as cat litter. Don’t mix products – not only does combining products prevent us from being able to recycle them, but some hazardous products may react, ignite or explode.