Contact the County of Santa Clara at 408-299-7300 or visit HHW.org to make an appointment for a free HHW drop-off event. Hazardous waste, e-waste, and universal wastes (paint, batteries, and fluorescent lamps) should never be disposed in the trash because they are harmful to the environment. Use the locations below to dispose of them instead. 

• Santa Clara County HHW Program (All Items)
• Batteries & Lamps
• Batteries Only
• E-Waste
• Medication and Prescription Drugs
• Motor Oil & Filters
• Paint
• Sharps (Hypodermic Needles)

Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program

Dispose of All Household Hazardous Wastes, Including Paint, E-Waste, Batteries and More

By Appointment Only (rotating location will be revealed) 408-299-7300 | HHW.org

Funded by your local city government and administered by the County of Santa Clara. Alternative drop-off locations available throughout the year. Visit HHW.org for more details and to make an appointment.

Accepted Items

You may now take paint back to participating retailers. Paint includes latex, oil, coatings, primer, stain, and varnish. 

California law requires a "paint care recovery fee" to be charged on paint purchases effective October 19, 2012. Retailers may also volunteer to be paint collection sites for residents and certain businesses in their community. This means that residents will be able to conveniently take back used paint directly to retailers participating in the program rather than be limited to making appointments for the countywide household hazardous waste program to properly dispose of paint.

See list below for retailers that take back paint (please call ahead if you have more than 5 gallons). For a list of all take-back locations in the county and a list of all paint products accepted, visit hhw.org.

Batteries & Lamps

Residents subscribed to curbside service (individual carts) may be able to recycle these items at the curbside.  You may also drop them off at the locations listed below.  Residents living in apartment and multi-family complexes subscribed to shared trash and recycling may contact their property manager to coordinate household battery collection through Recology.

Fluorescent lamps are compact bulbs, straight, circular, spiral and u-bent tubes. Household batteries (from small watch batteries to flashlight lantern batteries) can be taken to the following retail locations free of charge. Please note that they do not accept automotive batteries. 

Holiday Light Strings, visit MountainView.gov/Holidays.

BATTERIES ONLY

Residents subscribed to curbside service (individual carts) may be able to recycle these items at the curbside. You may also drop them off at the locations listed below (call first). Residents living in apartments or multi-family complexes may ask their property manager to arrange for recycling through Recology. 

MEDICATION & sharps

MEDICATION

To prevent harm to our environment, never flush medicines down the toilet or the sink. Medicines are considered hazardous waste, and water treatment facilities are unable to remove these substances from waste water. As a result, medicines still present in the effluent returned to the Bay may harm aquatic organisms and eventually fish and wildlife along the food chain. You can minimize potential problems by safely disposing of unused medicines at the following locations:

• Mountain View Police & Fire Administration lobby drop-off box, 1000 Villa Street, Mountain View.
• MED-Project collection kiosks. Visit the MED-Project website to find a drop-off location near you.

sharps

State law prohibits a person from placing home-generated sharps in their trash or recycling containers.  Home-generated sharps are defined as disposable hypodermic needles, syringes, lancets, and other medical devices used for self-injection or blood test. To safely dispose of your used home-generated sharps, place them in a biohazard sharps container. Contact your doctor or pharmacist to ask if they have a take-back program for your used sharps. Many online vendors offer pre-addressed, prepaid mail back boxes to safely return used sharps. The Countywide Household Hazardous Waste Program has more information about safe sharps disposal, including links to receive free sharps collection containers. Used sharps may also be safely disposed at the following locations:

• MED-Project sharps disposal locations throughout Santa Clara County
• SMaRT Station, 301 Carl Road, Sunnyvale, at the Drop Off Center (red metal dumpster). Residents only.
• Mountain View Fire/Police Department Sharps Box, in the lobby at the Police & Fire Administration Building, 1000 Villa Street, Mountain View.
• Countywide Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program list of drop-off locations for sharps.  

MOTOR OIL AND FILTERS

Any Certified Used Oil Collection Center
Visit hhw.org for list of centers.

Residents subscribed to curbside service (individual carts) may be able to recycle these items at the curbside. These services are not provided to residents in apartments and multi-family properties because of property management restrictions.