Household Hazardous Waste

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 Household Hazardous Waste Program

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

Saturday, August 26, 2023 in Mountain View

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

  • 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 sounds
  • 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. 

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.

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 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.

 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
 Blossom True Value Hardware
1297 W. El Camino Real
650-964-7871
Leave with employee at register.
        SMaRT Station
        301 Carl Road, Sunnyvale
        408-752-8530
        Free drop off for Mountain View, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto residents

BATTERIES ONLY

Residents subscribed to curbside service (individual carts) may be able to recycle these items at the curbsideYou 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. 

Best Buy
2460 E. Charleston Road
650-903-0591
                     Target
                     555 Showers Drive
                     650-965-7764
                     Green Citizen 
                     1576 Rollins Road, Burlingame
                     650-493-8700

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:

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:

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.

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