Household Hazardous Waste Collections Scheduled

Paint can. (Credit: Ewen Roberts/Flickr)

Ocean County has scheduled its first household hazardous waste collection dates for 2015.

The county’s freeholder board will continue the popular program this year, said Freeholder James F. Lacey, who serves as liaison to the county’s recycling programs.

The program will run once a month from April through October, Lacey said at a meeting Wednesday. The first collection will be held April 17 at the Lakewood Public Works yard, 1 America Avenue, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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Collections will also be held May 30 at Berkeley Township Public Works, 630 Pinewald-Keswick Road, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on June 6 at the Stafford Township Public Works yard, 320 Hay Road, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

All county residents are welcome to bring items such as used paint, thinners, boat bottom paint, motor oil, pool chemicals, pesticides, aerosol cans, cleaning products and car batteries – among others – to any of the locations. Registration is required, however. To register for the Lakewood event, call 732-367-0802; for Berkeley, 732-506-5047; for Stafford, 609-978-0913. Residents can drop off a maximum of 200 pounds of dry material and 20 gallons of liquid. No containers over five gallons can be accepted.

The program is partially funded through grants aimed at keeping hazardous materials out of the Barnegat Bay watershed.

Lacey said the materials are often recycled. While the program remains popular since it was started in 1989, people have heeded the advice of the county over the years to avoid “over-buying” hazardous products.

“The numbers have gone down over the years,” Lacey said. “At one point we were well over a million pounds in the program.”

Last year, 284,307 pounds of waste, about 142 tons, were collected.

Lacey said additional dates will be announced as the year goes on.