Residents looking for alternatives for disposing of household “universal waste,” such as batteries, old cellphones or fluorescent light tubes, have several options, according to Waste Management, a trash collection company. It’s illegal to place these items in trashcans effective yesterday, Feb. 9.

As of today, all Californians must dispose of items deemed universal waste by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) at designated recycling centers or household hazardous waste collection centers. These products, which have low levels of hazardous metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium, can potentially contaminate soil and groundwater, so they cannot be disposed of in the trash and subsequently deposited into landfills.

The DTSC announced the new rules applicable to homes and small businesses on Jan. 23.

“We understand that the deadline imposed by the state is very quick for not only our customers, but also service providers and local governments,” said Mike Smith, area manager for Waste Management in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. 

“A number of questions also remain about what constitutes universal waste and how it should be handled,” Smith said. “However, we’re doing what we can to assist our customers and let them know there are a number of local sites available where people can take universal waste to dispose of it safely.” Designated as universal waste are the following. •Common batteries: AA, AAA, C cells, D cells and button batteries (such as hearing aid batteries). •Fluorescent tubes and bulbs and other mercury-containing lamps: fluorescent light tubes and bulbs, high intensity discharge (HID), metal halide, sodium and neon bulbs. •Thermostats: old-style with the sealed glass-tilt switches, which

contain mercury (newer electronic ones are exempt). •Electronic devices: TVs and computer monitors (which were already prohibited from household trash), computers, printers, VCRs, cellphones, telephones, radios and microwave

ovens.

The following universal waste items have been banned from trash collection for some time: •Electrical switches and relays: mercury switches that can be found in some chest freezers, pre1972 washing machines, sump pumps, electric space heaters, clothes irons, silent light switches, automobile hood and trunk lights, and ABS brakes. •Pilot light sensors: mercurycontaining switches found in some gas appliances such as stoves, ovens, clothes dryers, water heaters, furnaces and space heaters. •Mercury gauges: some gauges, such as barometers, manometers, blood pressure and vacuum gauges contain mercury. •Novelties: examples include greeting cards that play music when opened, athletic shoes (made before 1997) with flashing lights in soles and mercury maze games. •Mercury thermometers: mercury thermometers typically contain about a half-gram of mercury. Many health clinics, pharmacies and doctor’s offices have thermometer exchange programs that will give you a new mercury-free fever thermometer in exchange for your old one. •Non-empty aerosol cans that contain hazardous materials: many products in aerosol cans are toxic and many aerosol cans contain flammables, like butane, as propellants for products like paint. If your aerosol can is labeled with words like toxic or flammable, don’t put it in the trash unless they’recompletely empty.

For more information about universal waste, including proper disposal, visit www.dtsc.ca.gov/ HazardousWaste/UniversalWaste/ index.cfm.  Residents can also call the waste evaluation help line at (916) 322-7676 for additional assistance in determining what items qualify as universal waste.

Contact the following Ventura County jurisdictions for more information about universal waste. The city of Simi Valley, (805) 5836321 (www.simivalley.org); the city of Moorpark, (805) 517-6315 (www.ci.moorpark.ca.us); the city of Thousand Oaks, (805) 4497823) (www.toaks.org) and Ventura County, (805) 658-4318 (www.wasteless.org)

Additional information about local disposal options is available at www.earth911.org or http:// ccelearn.csus.edu/mercurylamp/ content/resources5.htm.

Waste Management is California’s largest provider of recycling and solid waste services.  See its Internet website at www.KeepingVenturaCountyClean.com.