Denton County offers free vouchers to residents hoping to dispose of household hazardous waste.
Products containing chemicals that can be harmful if not disposed properly are considered HHW. This includes chemical cleaners, light bulbs, fuel, paints and pesticides.
“We don't want you to put [HHW] in the trash,” Denton County Director of Development Services Stephen Belknap said. “Most of what we're trying to protect is either in groundwater or surface water. Obviously, liquids can seep into the aquifer and groundwater. Eventually, that stuff gets to our lakes.”
Denton County partners with Upper Trinity Regional Water District to encourage residents to properly dispose of HHW and decrease water contamination.
“We've got two different avenues for people to dispose of it, and both of them are voucher based,” Belknap said.
The county buys vouchers from Upper Trinity and gives them to residents for free. Each voucher is around $110$132, and the county is billed for the amount used monthly.
Noncounty residents may not get a free voucher.
“We've been doing this since 2010,” Belknap said. “Since 2015, the cost to the county has increased by about 50%.”
Residents can get vouchers from the county by contacting development services. The Fort Worth Collection Center will accept vouchers and bill the county for disposing of the waste.
“That's one avenue for residents to dispose of this stuff,” Belknap said. “Then we've got these household hazardous waste events.”
Participating towns can host drop-off events for residents at no cost.
“We kind of rely on the town because they've got more of an opportunity for that outreach because most of them provide utility services,” Belknap said.
Before a collection event, residents should label all containers, make sure all products are separated and place HHW containers upright in a secure part of the vehicle to prevent leaking.
“Listen to the people that are there that know what they're doing,” Belknap said. “You stay in your car. You don't get out because we have county volunteers who are there to help unload. Once the event's over, they take it down to that Bridge Street facility in Fort Worth and offload it there.”
Pilot Point partners with the county to host collection events. County residents outside of Pilot Point may participate in future drop-off events if they have a voucher.
Residents wanting their town to participate in a dropoff event should reach out to their town’s development services.
“I want to kind of move [the program] out further in the county,” Belknap said. “If you start getting out of the city of Denton, people really don't have that opportunity to do this stuff. We want to move it out so that people in that unincorporated county area would have an opportunity to participate in these types of programs.”
Residents can reduce the amount of HHW by buying nonchemical alternatives or the exact amount needed rather than bulk. Chemicals in unexpired, usable condition can be passed to others to reuse the product.
“Use earth-friendly products,” Belknap said. “There are more and more of those out there that don't necessarily have some of those chemicals that we worry about.”
For upcoming drop-off events, visit the Denton County website at dentoncounty. gov.
“I would just like to encourage everybody to please use these events,” Belknap said. “They are there for a reason and it does protect your drinking water. It's important.”
