Round Rock Recycling Center expands when you can trash hazardous waste

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) — Citizens in Round Rock now have more opportunities to dispose of hazardous waste.

The city of Round Rock announced that they are expanding when you can safely dispose household hazardous waste (HHW) at the Round Rock Recycling Center from once a month to Tuesdays through Saturdays every week. The hours on the new drop-off hours are noon to 4 p.m.

Executive Director of Round Rock Public Works Michael Thane said that the move to add more drop times was much needed.

“If [citizens] don’t have a way to get to dispose of this properly, most citizens are going to want to just put it in a trash can,” Thane said. “We’re trying to avoid that. We want to protect the environment. We want to protect the groundwater.”

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers leftover products that can “catch fire, react, or explode under certain circumstances, or that are corrosive or toxic” as HHW.

Here are some examples of products that could become HHW according to the EPA:

• Paints
• Cleaners
• Oils
• Batteries
• Pesticides

The EPA said improper ways of disposing HHW include “pouring them down the drain, on the ground, into storm sewers, or in some cases putting them out with the regular trash.”

“This is toxic stuff. It causes people to get ill and die sooner,” said Bill Gammon, who is an environmental lawyer.

Gammon praised Round Rock for taking this step and said more cities should follow suit.

“By not doing what Round Rock is doing, you end up with a bunch of stuff in the landfill, and then that eventually percolates down, but through rainwater, it becomes leachate,” Gammon said.

The service of disposing HHW at the Round Rock Recycling Center is free for Round Rock residents and $60 for non-residents.

“We want Round Rock to always be great. We want to be leading in the environmental way and have a good community for all of us,” Thane said.