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.

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

Various Locations
Visit 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 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.