DPW Hosts Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day on May 21

The Portsmouth Department of Public Works will hold its biannual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day on Saturday, May 21, 2022, at the Public Works facility at 680 Peverly Hill Road. Residents of Portsmouth, Greenland and Newington are encouraged to bring household chemicals for safe disposal between 8 am and 12 noon. Proof of residency is required.

Collection Day is organized as a drive-through service. Residents remain in their vehicles and pull through the Public Works garage, where staff will remove disposable items from car trunks. Residents will be asked verbally about their town of residence for survey purposes, in compliance with EPA requirements.

Household hazardous waste collection helps safely dispose of items that can harm residents' health, the environment and drinking water supplies.

Items that qualify for collection include the following:

• From the yard: fertilizer with pesticides or fungicides, insect spray, lighter fluid, pest strips/traps, pesticides, poisons and pool chemicals.
• From the garage: acids, car waxes/polish, creosote, driveway sealer/tar, flea powder, gasoline, radiator fluid and roofing tar.
• From the house: bathroom cleaner, disinfectants, furniture polish, metal polish, mothballs, oven cleaner, photo chemicals, rug cleaner and wood strippers.
• From the workbench: brush cleaner, corrosives, lead and oil-based paint/stain/finish, rust preventive solvents, thinner/turpentine and wood preservatives.

Items that do NOT qualify include:

• Empty containers for household items, which may be disposed of in the regular trash collection.
• Explosives
• Asbestos
• Medical waste
• Latex paint. To prepare latex paint for regular disposal at the Recycling Center or through trash pick-up, solidify the paint by adding kitty litter, sawdust or SpeediDri; or open the can to allow the liquid to dry out before disposal.

For more information on the Recycling Center, click here.