LOCATIONS
Hazardous Waste
Hazardous waste should be taken to specialized waste centers.
What belongs here?
These types of waste should never end up in a landfill!
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Paints and solvents
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Pesticides and herbicides
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Medical waste
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Products labeled as warning, cautionary, toxic, flammable, corrosive, carcinogenic, ecotoxic
Important tips, facts and myths
Learn the hazard symbols:
Health Hazard: A cancer-causing agent (carcinogen) or substance with respiratory, reproductive or organ toxicity that causes damage over time (a chronic, or long-term, health hazard).
Flame: Flammable materials or substances liable to self ignite when exposed to water or air (pyrophoric), or which emit flammable gas.
Exclamation mark: An immediate skin, eye or respiratory tract irritant, or narcotic.
Gas Cylinder: Gases stored under pressure, such as ammonia or liquid nitrogen.
Corrosion: Materials causing skin corrosion/burns or eye damage on contact, or that are corrosive to metals.
Exploding Bomb: Explosives, including organic peroxides and highly unstable material at risk of exploding even without exposure to air (self-reactives).
Flame Over Circle: Substances, such as poisons and highly concentrated acids, which have an immediate and severe toxic effect (acute toxicity).
Skull and Crossbones: Substances, such as poisons and highly concentrated acids, which have an immediate and severe toxic effect (acute toxicity).
Environmental Hazard: Chemicals toxic to aquatic wildlife.
Common questions
Why it is important to properly dispose of hazardous waste?
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Landfills are outside, if we have hazardous materials in our landfills, than the rain, snow could mix with it. This contaminated water is called leachate, which could continue to seep into the earth and eventually make it into our water cycle.
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What happens with hazardous waste?
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The majority of hazardous waste ends up in an incinerator, which are equipped with pollution controll devices.
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