Spring cleaning? Get rid of KC home toxins

Starting your spring cleaning?

As Kansas City metro area families clear out basements and garages, local environmental authorities urge them to keep household hazardous waste out of the landfills and waterways.

Don’t just throw away old chemicals, paint and automotive oil. Household hazardous waste facilities will take them for free and recycle them properly to protect the environment.

In Kansas City, the water department’s facility is at 4707 Deramus Ave. and accepts drop-offs every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Items include automotive products, batteries, fertilizers, oil and solvents, old paint, pool chemicals, anti-freeze and other toxins.

The facility is open to residents of Kansas City and 50 other participating communities on the Missouri side. For a list of the communities and other information, go to kcwaterservices.org/programs/hhw.

In 2015, customers dropped off 1.3 million pounds of paint, batteries, oil and fuel, according to the city.

People can also buy recycled white, beige and gray paint for $20 a bucket. It sells quickly.

City workers certainly aren’t seeking out weird, dangerous items, but they have dealt with some strange stuff at the drop-off site. Some items even require a call to the bomb squad, acknowledges Robert Fort, the water department’s environmental manager.

“We’ve had everything from ammunition from WWII to picric acid, which is explosive when it crystallizes. We’ve also seen Cuban missile crisis-era containers that had wheat, flour and canned goods in them,” Fort said in a media release.

Johnson County also provides household hazardous waste collection free of charge to county residents, by appointment. Information is at 913-715-6907 or at hhwscheduler.jocogov.org.

Household hazardous waste recycling events are scheduled in Johnson County on April 9 and May 14.

More about the Johnson County programs is at jocogov.org/dept/health-and-environment/environment/hazardous-materials/schedule-dropoff

This story was originally published March 27, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Spring cleaning? Get rid of KC home toxins."