California's Santa Clara County expands household hazardous waste collection

The County of Santa Clara (California) Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Program says it is expanding access to a service that provides a simple, cost-effective way for small businesses to dispose of hazardous waste.
 
The Very Small Quantity Generator (VSQG) disposal program is a drop-off service for businesses that generate fewer than 220 pounds or 27 gallons of hazardous waste per month, from paint and motor oil to batteries and propane tanks.
 
The VSQG program is cheaper for small businesses than contracting with a private company to pick up and transport their hazardous waste, the county says, and it’s easy to use.
 
Roughly 300 businesses use the program every year, but Santa Clara County says it has the capacity for more businesses to take part. Nonprofit organizations and property managers also are eligible to participate. Its goal is to continue increasing the quantity of HHW it collects annually.

Currently, the county has two permanent facilities that can accept VSQG waste: one in San Jose and the other in San Martin. The county’s Household Hazardous Waste Program, which administers the VSQG program, is engaged in outreach and promotion to reach customers, raise awareness and increase demand. The program has the ability to add more drop-off days and increase hours if there is a large enough increase in demand.

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Properly disposing of hazardous waste is important for protecting public health and the environment in Santa Clara County. Reducing the use of these materials and ensuring they are disposed of safely is a key strategy in the County’s Sustainability Master Plan.
 
“We encourage small businesses that qualify for the Very Small Quantity Generator program to take advantage of this cost-effective and easy-to-use service,” Santa Clara County VSQG Program Manager Billy Puk says. “The VSQG program is an effective way to reduce threats to our health and environment and make our community more sustainable.”
 
Established in 1994, the VSQG program, which collected 64,560 pounds of hazardous waste during the 2021-22 fiscal year, typically holds drop-off events twice per month in San José and once per month in San Martin. 
 
A calendar of upcoming drop-off events is available on the HHW program website.
 
To qualify for the program, businesses must verify for themselves that they do not exceed the threshold of 220 pounds, or 27 gallons, of hazardous waste generated per month. Businesses may bring more than that amount to a facility in a given month as long as they don’t drop off more than 2,640 pounds, or 324 gallons, in a calendar year.
 
To participate in the VSQG program, businesses need to submit an inventory and set up an appointment. Program staff will provide a quote based on the inventory.
 
Prices for common items include:

• alkaline batteries, $2 per pound; 
• aerosol cans, $4 each; 
• latex paint, $6 per gallon; and
• oil paint, paint thinner and other paint-related materials, $15 per gallon.

The program is a drive-through service in which technicians remove HHW from vehicles. 

Santa Clara County’s VSQG program is a cost-recovery program, so the county neither raises nor loses money from administering it. Any increase in the program’s operational costs would be offset by the revenue from customers. It is possible prices would need to be adjusted to cover any additional days of operation.

Will Thornton, materials and facilities lead for Second Source Medical, a medical device manufacturing company in San José, typically drops off HHW once a month, bringing materials the company uses to build and clean their products such as epoxies and isopropyl alcohol.  
 
“It’s really smooth,” Thornton says. “I don’t even need to get out of the car. They take my inventory and payment, unload the vehicle, and I’m out of there within five minutes.”

In addition to the VSQG program, the county’s Household Hazardous Waste Program operates a free drive-through service for residents to dispose of hazardous materials from their homes. The HHW Program collected a total of more than 2.9 million pounds of hazardous waste last fiscal year from residents and businesses.
 
To learn more about the program, visit the county’s VSQG program webpage, which includes a downloadable inventory sheet, a schedule of drop-off events, a list of commonly accepted materials and other useful information, or call 800-207-8222.