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Household Hazardous Waste

Hazardous waste, e-waste, and universal wastes (paint, batteries, and fluorescent lamps) cannot be disposed in the trash because they are harmful to the environment. Use the locations below to dispose of them instead. 

 

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 / www.hhw.org
Funded by your local city government and administered by the County of Santa Clara.

Accepts:

  • Asbestos
  • Balloon tanks
  • Batteries (household batteries may also be recycled through curbside program)
  • E-Waste
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Flares
  • Fluorescent tubes and compact bulbs
  • Gas cylinders (MAPP) used in jewelry making and plumbing (usually yellow container, 10-12" tall, 14-16 oz)
  • Musical greeting cards and similar advertising materials that use sound
  • Paint
  • Pesticides
  • Pool chemicals
  • Prescription drugs and medicines
  • Propane tanks for BBQs or camp stoves
  • Oil
  • Sharps (hypodermic needles)
  • Smoke detectors
  • Solvents 
  • Thermometers and thermostats

 

Paint

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

A new 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. Residents will no longer be limited to making appointments for the countywide household hazardous waste program to properly dispose of paint. This in turn will reduce government costs and save taxpayer money.

In Mountain View, see list below for paint. Remember, you can take paint back to any of the retailers on the lists even if they are located in different cities. 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 www.hhw.org.

Dunn-Edwards
1949 El Camino Real
Mountain View
(650) 964-4526

Kelly Moore
180 El Camino Real E
Mountain View
(650) 964-5220

Kelly Moore
411 Fairchild Dr
Mountain View
(650) 961-0750

Batteries & Lamps

Residents living in 1-8 unit properties may be able to recycle these items at the curbside.  You may also drop them off at the locations listed below.  Residents living in 9+ apartment and multi-family properties 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 www.mountainview.gov/holidays.

Blossom True Value Hardware
1297 W. El Camino Real
(650) 964-7871
Leave with employee at register.

Bruce Bauer Lumber and Supply
134 San Antonio Circle
(650) 948-1089
Leave with employee at register.

Stanford Electric
126 San Antonio Circle
(650) 323-4139

SMaRT Station
301 Carl Road, Sunnyvale
(408) 752-8530
Free drop off for Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto residents

BATTERIES ONLY

Residents living in 1-8 unit properties may be able to recycle these items at the curbside.  You may also drop them off at the locations listed below.  Residents livig in 9+ unit properties at apartments or multi-family may ask their property manager to arrange for recycling through Recology.

Best Buy
2460 E. Charleston Road
(650) 903-0591 (Call first!)

Target
555 Showers Drive
(650) 965-7764 (Call first!)

Green Citizen
1576 Rollins Road, Burlingame
(650) 493-8700 (Call first!)

MEDICATION

Various Locations
Visit www.hhw.org for a full  list of medication drop-off locations.  Also visit our web page on Medications Disposal Day.

MOTOR OIL AND FILTERS

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

Residents living in 1-8 unit properties may be able to recycle these items at the curbside. Sorry, these services are not provided to residents in apartments and multi-family properties because of property management restrictions.

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