The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is seeking community assistance for the safe clean-up of household chemicals and problem wastes in the Hunter after recent flood and storm weather events.
EPA director incident management and environmental health Arminda Ryan said the recent extreme conditions in NSW had a significant impact on communities, including the generation of household chemical waste.
“Thousands of households across the region are managing substantial damage caused by the floods and storms in March,” she explained.
To protect the safety of the community and the environment, the EPA is urging households to take flood-damaged chemicals to their nearest Community Recycling Centre (CRC).
Paint, gas bottles, batteries, flouro globes and tubes, oil and smoke detectors can be taken to a CRC.
If the waste cannot be disposed at a CRC, residents should safely store the waste, if possible, until the next local Household Chemical CleanOut event.
These are being scheduled over the next few months.
“Household Chemical CleanOuts are a free service, run jointly by the NSW Government and local councils, which provide a safe way to dispose of potentially hazardous household items such as paint, oils and cleaning products,” Ms Ryan said.
You can take household quantities of many chemicals and items – up to a maximum of 20 litres or 20 kilograms of a single item – to a CleanOut event, including:
- Car and household batteries
- Fire extinguishers
- Gas bottles
- Smoke detectors
- Acids and alkalis
- Pesticides and herbicides
- Pool chemicals
- Fluorescent globes and tubes
To find out when the next Household Chemical CleanOut event is scheduled or where your closest Community Recycling Centre is in your area, go to https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/yourenvironment/recycling-and-reuse/household-recycling-overview/find-crcs-or-hcco or contact your local council.
If you encounter any significant pollution, contact the Environment Line on 131 555 or by email at [email protected]
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