Some things in your apartment can’t go out with your regular garbage–even if they fit in the apartment complex’s dumpster or trash compactor. Find out what these items are (they’re more common than you might think!), why they can’t go in your trash can, and how to dispose of them properly.
89 thoughts on “12 Things That Are Illegal to Throw in the Trash”
Anything that’s illegal to put in the trash, should be illegal to manufacture in the first place!!!
MOST items purchased should be returnable to where bought. YES ideally “I.E. Wal-Mart” could have a sister Drop-Off for empty and discarded items for recycling.
GIVE customers credit(s) for their next shopping purchase 🙂
PROVEN when glass bottles were returned for credit, MUCH less toxic waste added to the environment.
Many Walmarts DO have that. There are bins by the doors. They are labeled as “plastic bags” “egg cartons” “paper bags” “batteries”… Some markets may have different / more bins, but the 4 Walmarts within 10 minutes of me, have those ones that I have noticed.
I agree. I would return electronics for disposal to Best Buy but, you had to pay a fee that could be used to buy something in store. The same is true when you go for new tires. To get rid of the old ones you have to pay a disposal fee. I want to be able to get rid of useless trash and not pay to get rid of it. We already pay for trash disposal service. Tired of everyone charging fees for things that should be free
I remember those times. GlASS Bottles were the best and could always be recycled!! As also When they used
TIN cans instead of Aluminum cans for foods.. Now they find Aluminum is not a Healthy product for foods to be
contained in as your body cannot rid itself of the Aluminum you ingest leading to possible health issues??
The Tin cans were around for a LONG time and it left outside on the ground would decompose naturally going back to the soil.
Correct. It was good
Put down your phone and your tablet and join an Amish community.
Modern technology has been a boon to humanity for many years. Advances in energy, food storage, medicine, and communications, to name a few, have benefitted us all. If we are to enjoy these gifts that make our lives better and safer, then it behooves us to behave responsibly in their use and disposal.
If you happen to be elderly but
Still live in a single family house it is almost impossible
To”TAKE” these items any where! Citys should provide
Pick up service like they all other trash.
Some cities I lived in had a twice-yearly pickup of hazardous trash, tires and car batteries. It may be possible to call your apartment office or local trash collection company to see if that is available where you live.
Yes! Just try taking a trash bag full of “recyclables” on public transportation. The elderly/disabled always get the wrong end of the stick.
I Totally Agree with you Jesse..Use to be that towns had Spring time pick-up for all your discarded and unneeded items, but now they don’t any more. This was covered by our taxes that go up every year!
A very good point…
I totally agree with you. I am 81 years old and my only transportation is my power wheelchair. I live in low income housing in a small prairie town. I have no way to get to any recycling center. There should be containers provided by housing that gets picked up on a weekly or monthly basis. We shouldn’t be charged for that
I agree (age 73 and handicapped, now in a condo). Over the years I’ve been innocent of only tires/ It’s so easy for the government to prohibit these items without providing a reasonable disposal method. so what do they expect? My city on their website posts that it does post-disposal recycling but canceled it several years back, but don’t want it publicized. Everything goes to the landfill!
Yes! I totally agree. We’re not elderly but live 35-45 minutes away from amenities like stores, recycling, donation centers, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, or anywhere. It’s hard to get rid of anything responsibly where I live, as I live way out in a small town of nothing. They need to add recycling ♻️ our garbage service.
Should be illegal to put trash in recycling can and legit recyclables in the trash can. Etc.
The Amish are the least environmentally conscience people on earth. They believe the earth is flat.
You mean it is not flat?
I have numerous Amish relatives and that is not true. Amish people are more likely to practice organic gardening techniques, use holistic doctors, reuse, repurpose and recycle items until the object is barely recognizable, share with others, and work together to keep their community clean and strong (even if and when that community includes “English.) The 8th grade education that most Amish people have imparts more real educational experience than the typical American high school.
WELL Stated Janice.. Some People just Look down on them cause they Act differently than other people.
But they up hold old world Values and ways, And there is NOTHING wrong with that!! They still hold
GOD SACRED as we all Should, Then maybe the world would not be so Corrupt and GREEDY and Jealous of every thing that everyone else may have, and just be SATISFIED with what they have them selves.
A lot of Amish communities practice puppy-mills…. Which is far from compassionate, caring and / or kind behavior…🤷🏻♀️
Perhaps if they had more than an eighth grade education they would be smart enough to avoid “holistic” doctors (the majority of whom are not qualified physicians).
How do you know that they’re the least environmentally conscience ppl on earth?
Misinformation
IT IS FLAT
I traveled from San Francisco ( always going east ) to the east coast, across the Atlantic ocean, into the Med to and to Port Said, through the Suez Canal, red sea,east in the Indian Ocean to Philippine Isl;ands, to Japan, across the Pacific Ocean always going east and I arrived at San Francisco…If you truely believe the world is flat…Rocks are smarter then you.
Mr Murphy, your logic is incorrect.
Yes, like gasoline
Really? I would love to see you do without prescription drugs and light bulbs!
You could probably do without 90% of the drugs you take with a change of lifestyle and feel better at the same time!!
That’s as dumb as saying, “Since it’s illegal to steal money, money should be illegal.”
It is illegal to throw tires in the trash so we find them in the Mississippi River where we live. (along with furniture and appliances)
I totally agree.
OK, give up your TV, computer and your cellphone. Don’t buy medicines. and ignore any prescriptions given to you by your doctor. What the ding-dong kind of advice are you giving??
like…paint…it needs to be disposed of in the proper manor…I certainly hope manufacture of it does not cease
Brilliant! Tires? Pharmaceuticals? Electronics? Batteries? Let’s see you do without these essential items. Be responsible and just recycle.
thank you thats what i say to.
I agree that ”Anything that’s illegal to put in the trash, should be illegal to manufacture in the first place!!!”
End of conversation, you just said it all.
I totally agree with you
would you make alist of things that are allowed?
Really? Batteries? Tires? Prescription drugs? Paint? Seriously?
That’s just stupid. How are you going to run your car without oil?
spreading the virus through sprays or however 45 andte world cronies did it is illegal also.
Nah it should be legal, people just need to be responsible and dispose of stuff properly.
Batteries for a very long time in our town always had an area at the DPW to leave them which I did for years and now we were told to just throw them away. I thought it was odd but there is no place anymore to bring them to, in my town anyway.
call up interstate battery they will take and dispose if them(recycle)
Or any auto battery replacement places
There needs to be a very coordinated EASY system to provide many locations for ppl to drop off these items while they are going about their dayly activities such as retail stores having drop boxes for batteries and builds near entrance or give a small credit for empties. Hhw facilities should have places for drop off available 24/7 as many of them are not open at the time most working people can bring stuff to them even IF they are close – my closed is 15 miles away. I don’t want to have to store my small amount of hazardous waste until I get enough to warrant a 30 mile round trip. The grocery store across the street takes my plastic bags so all of them are recycled but the rest of my junk – only I know what is in the bag that goes into the dumpster
I agree. If you want society to comply, at least have a source that’s open.
How about a specific trash can for everyone that is non-recyclable, nor good for landfills that the people could call when full to be picked up like the trash.
Good idea LYN.
Most citizens are willing to accept responsibility for recycling products. BUT it must be quick and convenient for them to do it. It often is a long drive and that is a waste of resources, as well as time. I would suggest that every Fire Station (even the rural volunteer ones) be equipped with the necessary drop off bins. Virtually everyone in the country is close to a Fire Station. This effort should be coordinated by the State or County who should provide the bins, and could be financed by either the manufacturers or sellers of the hazardous products.
That is a very good idea Don! As you said pretty much everyone lives near a fire station and would probably be more likely to dispose of the items responsibly if it were that convenient. I will be presenting this idea to our mayor!
That sounds like a good idea until folks are lined up at the fire station to drop off and are blocking the way for fire trucks to get out to respond to a fire.
Good idea-easy to implement.
Anytime you purchase one of these items there’s an extra environmental fee i.e. 10c on a paint can, 5c on a piece of wood, glass & cans fee, etc. Why are we charged these fees & we have to go to such length to dispose the containers? The stores should have collection bins for these items.
Individual stores should be responsible for taking back toxic products they have sold, but behind them must be the manufacturers who offer them in the first place. Just reading over all the comments above shows how complex this problem can be for individual consumers to try to handle alone.
That’s good to know these things…. However, where some people live these places aren’t right down the street. Allot of them aren’t even in town.
If they provide you with a sharps container to hold your used needles from medical injections, they should advise you where who will dispose of them when they are full.
It may be illegal but when you do not have a facility to receive stuff like that near you. They go in the trash.
I had stored about 1 gallon of old gasoline that I wanted to get rid of. I researched the internet, I went to gas stations, I made phone calls, but couldn’t find an answer as to what to do with it. I ended up leaving it in a public place. Not too proud of it, but I didn’t know what else to do..
I am sure you could have added an additive to the gas and it would have been just fine.
I wholeheartedly agree that we should be able to bring the nonrecycable/nondisposable items back to store purchased from and manufacturer should back the stores making it feasible to dispose of those things properly.
That is a very good idea. We should have it as convenient to dispose of as it is to purchase, and not at a cost to the shopper.
Thanks so much. Appreciate the websites to look up for proper recycling.
Lee co, FL is divided into pickup zones that include rural areas. Each zone is picked up on a different day of the week. 3 items are picked up each pick up day. Trash, recycle and yard waste. If you have large house hold items such as furniture, call the trash contractor for special pickup. The County has special drop off places for hazard waste. Put cat liter in paint cans, put lid back on, throw in regular trash. Lee County had a trash burning plant built to boil water for an electric generating plant. Burns trash to make electricity for all Government Buildings. Giant magnets at the end of burn cycle picks any steel that was in the burn process, rest of the burned ash is ground up and taken to landfill.
That is awesome Diana!! Sounds like Lee County is a very progressive county. I live in Chattanooga, TN and the city has curbside pickup for the more common recyclables. I live in the county and take mine to a nearby recycling center every couple of weeks. But we don’t have facilities for many of the items mentioned in this article. There is a hazardous waste facility for city residents that takes some of them. You are very fortunate person to live in such a eco-responsible area.
Thank you. While I knew about almost all, I was puzzled — till now! — about prescription drugs. I appreciate the heads-up.
Any Drs office or pharmacy
So what are the 12 items?
Push these to be taught at the elementary level, maybe the kids will tell their parents and the whole family will participate with the recycling. Currently, the families at home are not even recycling plastics or aluminum. Most hospitals are not even participating in recycling.
This sight sucks shouldn’t have to change page .
Fireworks really annoy me I don’t know if it is a Hispanic tradition or what it is dry hot hardly any water fireworks Christmas New YEARS 4th of July not only trash but some idiot burning your roof or yard and the nasty habit of throwing diapers everywhere
I’m not a Trump fan but I still believe he should be on the ballot. Hillary was found guilty for using her personal email account and not only did she escape punishment, she was still allowed to run for president. Trump has been found guilty of nothing and it’s pretty obvious that our out of control government is trying to prevent him from running. Let the people decide who is president.
why not make this just one page? Get so tired of websites making you have to keep clicking to the next paragraph.
If you work in/know someone who works in manufacturing, especially electric or electronic manufacturing, chances are they have a recycling program that can take you old batteries. It would also be a GREAT help if batteries had PROPER packaging making it CLEAR that batteries do not go in the trash!
I’ve also read that you could paint paper/cardboard/wood, let dry and then dispose of the painted waste.
Batteries, metal of any kind, aluminum, and copper can all be taken to a scrap metal yard and be sold…. Get paid while recycling…
Don’t forget to add hearing aid batteries to this list.
The answer is for cities to offer a once a year way to dispose of the toxic trash. send out notice that toxic trash would be picked up with the recyclables. they are to be put into sturdy boxes that are no heaver than 50 pounds each with no limit on quantity. they would be picked up by a separate truck. in this way it would ensure that these wouldn’t find there way into regular trash. most people do not have the time to transport these to a disposal site. having so little to transport costs more for the gas to transport them. also seniors that need to arrange for help in moving them and driving to disposal sites. many people dont even know where the sites are. cities could also provide sites at places where people go to shop for food. having the need to shop for food anyway it would be convenient to drop this stuff off at the same time. stores could put fliers into the bags of customers that would remind them the disposal trucks would be available for the next week at the store parking lots. the fliers would have a list of both what should be disposed of and the dates the trucks would be there next. not hard to do and would get many in the habit of having a box to dispose of the hazards instead of putting them in trash. Some things government is actually good for.—– I, Grampa
Last Fall I took several old cans of latex paint to the hazardous waste disposal center, where they refused them, and told me to throw them in the trash.
Plastic is Plastic – it all melts and can be separated into different liquids
TIN is TIN
Glass is Glass
CardBoard is Carboard
PAPER IS PAPER (wood fiber – by products)
it either goes in recycle bins as I SEE FIT
or they can put it all in the LANDFILL
Excellent!…great information, Thank you!
now trash collectors are picking up container of recycled batteries..what is being done with them./
Where do they go now
I saw the paragraph on batteries being illegal to throw into the trash. I can’t figure out how to get to the rest of the list. All I see are advertisements. Grrr.
Why would you headline your link with “12 Things That Are Illegal to Throw in the Trash” and not just publish a simple list of the 12 rather than waste my time trying to find out what they are having to scan the entire link. It won’t happen again because this link is now blocked and identified as SPAM !
JUNK LINK
It’s to bad that unless you switch to an advantage plan you can’t get the benefits that would really help financially.
It would be beneficial for this list to be published in newspapers magazines internet ie tiktok TV and radio frequently. I was once told that it takes 3 weeks (21 days) for an ad to be remembered.
Especially appreciate the listing of departments and/or locations where items can be disposed. Thank you.