What is Household Chemical Waste (HCW)?
Household Chemical Waste (HCW) and household hazardous waste are terms used to describe the fairly common chemical products accumulated in a household from a variety of cleaning, painting, pest control and yard work activities. These types of products are a small but potentially problematic portion of the municipal solid waste stream. National studies estimate that HCW comprises less than 1% of the municipal solid waste stream. In Lake County, this equates to an estimated 2,500 tons disposed of in our landfills annually. To help you determine if something is a household chemical waste, look for the words “danger,” “toxic,” “flammable,” “corrosive,” and/or “reactive” somewhere on the product’s packaging. These are the four major classifications of hazardous materials.
