Know your trash: What can be taken curbside? What do you do with stuff that can’t?

By Camalot Todd

Sunday, July 30, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Not everything can be flushed down the toilet or tossed in the trash. Some common household items can damage sewer lines, endanger the habitats of wildlife or erode drains.

Items such as medicine, batteries and even cooking oil should be dropped off at a local facility that can dispose of them in an environmentally responsible manner.

If an item contained any substance that may be hazardous, it would likely require special disposal methods. For example, animal carcasses are accepted at Republic Services, but not curbside, and charges are based on size. Household hazardous waste include products with corrosive, toxic, ignitable or reactive ingredients.

Cooking oil

• How to prep for disposal: Large amounts of cooking oil and animal fats should not be poured down drains or septic tanks. Instead, cooking oil and animal fats can be collected — for example, in old coffee cans — and recycled at a household hazardous waste facility.

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? No

• Why is it dangerous? The Environmental Protection Agency regulates vegetable oils and animal fats under the same code (40 CFR 112) as petroleum oils because they share common physical properties and produce similar effects on the environment. Both destroy future and existing food supplies, kill animals, produce rancid odors, foul shorelines, clog water treatment plants and can catch fire.

Research and experience with spills show that cooking oil and animal fat spills kill or injure wildlife. Coated animals can die of hypothermia, dehydration, diarrhea or starvation. Aquatic life may suffocate because spilled animal fats and vegetable oils in water deplete oxygen, and the spills of animal fats and cooking oil have similar effects on aquatic life as petroleum oil spills.

Garden chemicals

• How to prep for disposal: Pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, insecticides, swimming pool chemicals are accepted.

When dropping off the chemicals, you must have a photo ID and be either a direct residential customer (bring a bill) or an indirect residential customer (live in a rental unit complex that contracts residential service.)

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? No

Fridges

• How to prep for disposal: If you want a refrigerator removed from your property, call Republic Services. There will be a charge for this service if a subcontractor is needed to remove Freon from the unit.

• Curbside pickup? Yes, by appointment

• Drop-off? No

• Extra cost? Maybe. A subcontractor may be needed to remove Freon from the unit.

Needles and other sharp objects

• How to prep for disposal: Includes needles, syringes and other sharp objects, such as razor blades or broken glass that may be contaminated.

Republic Services offers a kit to mail back sharp objects, including instructions, prepaid postage box, medical waste container, protective plastic liner and tracking documents from origin to final disposal.

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? No

• Extra cost? Yes, $37.95 for a one-quart disposal kit to $84.95 for a five-piece kit

• Why is it dangerous? Up to 7 billion sharp objects are discarded in the trash every year, and up to 850,000 people are injured yearly because of improper disposal, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Automotive products

• How to prep for disposal: Includes antifreeze, fluids, motor oil, oil filters, gasoline, polish and wax.

• Curbside pickup? Yes, if shorter than 6 feet, less than 50 pounds and containing no oils

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? No

Tires

• How to prep for disposal: There’s a four-tire limit per resident for passenger vehicle tires with no rims. Tires also can be taken to Lunas Recycling. For more information, call 702-644-6840.

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? Maybe. Lunas Recycling charges $2.50 per passenger tire.

Fluorescent light bulbs

• How to prep for disposal: Includes bulbs and compact fluorescent lamps.

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? No

Medicine

• How to prep for disposal: Medication can be dropped off at a police station. Prescriptions must be ground up and mixed with cat litter, sand or coffee grounds.

Do not flush medications down the drain: the chemicals go to one of Las Vegas’ water treatment facilities and remain in the water after processing and are released into the water cycle.

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? Yes, at any police station

• Extra cost? No

• Why is it dangerous? Accidental exposure to prescription and nonprescription drugs can be fatal to people and pets, according to the FDA.

The leading cause of child poisoning is medication, and in 2013, more than 59,000 children were seen in emergency rooms because of medicinal poisoning, according to Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit organization dedicated to children’s safety.

The dumping of medication in water supplies is of local, national and global concern, as the U.S. Geological Survey found that 80 percent of 139 streams sampled in 30 states detected low concentrations of chemicals commonly found in prescription drugs. Even low concentration levels could be enough to harm the environment and people’s health.

Batteries

• How to prep for disposal: Select locations of The Home Depot, Sam’s Club, O’Reilly Auto Parts, Lowe’s, Target and Best Buy offer myriad ways to recycle batteries. Visit earth911.com and search for the nearest location by ZIP code.

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? No

Paint

• How to prep for disposal: Republic Services accepts up to five gallons of paint per trip.

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? No

Electronics and e-waste

• How to prep for disposal: The Blind Center of Nevada offers free residential recycling of most electronics, including computers, cellphones, flat-screen monitors, DVD and VHS players. Drop-off hours are 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at 1001 N. Bruce St. Computer hard drives are erased as part of the service.

• Curbside pickup? No

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? Yes. There is a $30 fee to recycle a CRT computer monitor (box-style) with the Blind Center; this fee is waived if you drop off a computer tower with the monitor. A certificate of destruction can be obtained for $10.

There is no extra fee for dropping electronics off at Republic.

Bulk waste

• How to prep for disposal: Bulk waste such as furniture, mattresses (wrapped in plastic) and yard waste (think palm tree branches) are picked up every other week on the same day as trash and recycling service.

There is no charge for this service as long as your account is current.

• Curbside pickup? Yes, if less than 50 pounds

• Drop-off? Yes

• Extra cost? No

Drop-off locations for Republic Services

Regularly scheduled drop-off times are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. These facilities are closed on holidays. Hours of operation are based on a rotating schedule; every other week, one location is open and the other is closed.

Call 702-735-5151 to confirm acceptance of your waste.

• Recycle Center: 333 W. Gowan Road, North Las Vegas, NV 89032

• Cheyenne Transfer Station: 315 W. Cheyenne Avenue, North Las Vegas, NV 89303

• Henderson Transfer Station: 560 Cape Horn Drive, Henderson, NV 89011