Safely disposing of household waste

From City Scene, published on 6 April, 2008

Safe disposal: You can drop off your hazardous household waste at the HazMobile between 10am and 2pm on Saturday, 12 April at Western Springs public car park, Motions Road.

Paint exchange: Resene ColorShops accept unwanted paint for recycling or redistribution through their Paintwise scheme. Paint is recycled or donated to community groups such as the Gifted Education Centre.

The HazMobile provides a safe place for Auckland residents to dispose of their hazardous household waste.

HazMobile collections are a multi-council, regional initiative to reduce the threat that hazardous waste poses to people and the environment.

Most of the waste collected is reused or recycled - with the remainder treated to destroy its hazardous properties before being sent to landfill. Items the HazMobile accepts include:

household chemicals - cleaners, disinfectants, polishes, solvents and glues
garden chemicals - fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides
automotive products - waste oil, petrol, diesel and brake fluid
fluorescent tubes and energy saving light bulbs
9kg LPG cylinders - this does not include CNG cylinders
all types of batteries.

The HazMobile no longer accepts paint - except toxic lead paint and marine antifouling paint - but Resene Colorshops and PlaceMakers stores do accept paint (see below for more details).

Reusing and recycling unwanted paint

Resene's Paintwise programme is a great way to dispose of unwanted household paints. Simply take the paint to your local Resene ColorShop and they look after the rest: distributing good quality paint to community groups to use, recycling containers, sending oil-based paints to solvent recovery, and finding alternative uses for water-based paints - including donating them to graffiti removal programmes. Resene branded paint is free to return with a small charge applying to non-Resene branded paints.

The Paintwise programme does not accept automotive or marine paints but these are accepted - and recycled - by the HazMobile.

For more details about Paintwise and participating Resene stores, visit www.resene.co.nz/paintwise or phone 0800 737 363.

PlaceMakers stores also accept unwanted paint or stain free of charge, including paint from trade customers.

They work together with Enviropaints to recycle old paint into a new paint range called Enviropaints.

Visit www.placemakers.co.nz, www.enviropaints.co.nz or phone 579 2806 for more information.