Photo: Jack Douglass 

From Cook County, Minnesota - July 11, 2025

By Tim Nelson, Land Services Director

Each year, the residents of Cook County properly dispose of between 11 and 16 tons of Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) each year. In converting that into pounds, it equates to between 22,000 and 32,000 pounds of HHW each year that is fortunately being kept out of not only the landfills, but also our lakes, rivers, and streams.

It may be surprising, but many household cleaning products, lawn care products, automotive products, paints, solvents, and even nail polish are considered to be hazardous. Although hazardous products can be useful, they can also be harmful if you don’t use, store and dispose of them properly. Reading the labels carefully is the best way to learn how to use the products to limit risk to your health and the health of others. It’s not always easy to tell if a product needs to be treated as household hazardous waste. Look for words on the label such as caution, warning, danger, poison, flammable, reactive, corrosive, or toxic. 

Improper disposal of HHW can include pouring them down the drain, on the ground, into storm sewers, or in some cases putting them out with the regular trash. The dangers of such disposal methods might not be immediately obvious, but improper disposal of these wastes can pollute the environment and pose a threat to human health. Certain types of HHW have the potential to cause physical injury to sanitation workers, contaminate septic tanks or wastewater treatment systems if poured down drains or toilets. They can also present hazards to children and pets if left around the house.

One of the first things people can do is try to reduce the amount of Household Hazardous Waste they bring into their homes, by evaluating the types of materials that are purchased to begin with. Consider reducing your purchase of products that contain hazardous ingredients. Learn about the use of alternative methods or products—without hazardous ingredients—for some common household needs. When shopping for items such as multipurpose household cleaners, toilet cleaners, laundry detergent, dish soap, dishwashing machine pods and gels, bug sprays and insect pest control, consider shopping for environmentally friendly, natural products or search online for simple recipes you can use to create your own.

Some quick tips for the safe handling of household hazardous waste include:

               - Follow any instructions for use and storage provided on product to reduce the risk of products exploding, igniting, leaking, mixing with other chemicals, or posing other hazards on the way to a disposal facility.

               - Never store hazardous products in food containers; keep them in their original containers and never remove labels. Corroding containers, however, require special handling. Call your local hazardous materials official or fire department for instructions.

               - When leftovers remain, never mix HHW with other products. Incompatible products might react, ignite, or explode, and contaminated HHW might become unrecyclable.

When you do have different types of Household Hazard Waste materials in your home, it is important to handle and dispose of the materials properly. Over the past several decades, Cook County has partnered with Resource Renew, formally known as the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District  (WLSSD), for the collection and disposal of the Household Hazardous Waste generated with the County.  Typically, the County coordinates with Resource Renew for an annual collection event, which is generally held in the mid-summer in Grand Marais, and this year is scheduled for Saturday, July 19 at the Cook County Recycling Center.

If residents of Cook County find themselves unable to attend the collection event, or for some other reason, find they need to dispose of Household Hazardous Waste before or after the collection event, they may transport the waste directly to the WLSSD facility in Duluth for free disposal as well. You may contact the facility and view their online disposal guide for a wide variety of materials through their website at: www.wlssd.com.

Another option for Cook County residents to be able to dispose of regular household paint is by dropping it off at one of the participating Paint Care partners, which includes North Shore Waste and Buck’s Hardware in Grand Marais, and Isak Hansen’s Hardware in Lutsen. The Paint Care program is provided through a non-profit organization that works with certain paint manufacturers and states that have passed product stewardship laws and facilitates the collection of waste paint at no cost. Minnesota has become one of the 13 States that participates in the Paint Care program.

We encourage you all to do your part to help protect your family and our community’s health and safety.  Drop off your household hazardous waste at the Cook County HHW Collection Event on Saturday, July 19 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon, which will be held at the Cook County Recycling Center in Grand Marais. For more information, contact the Cook County Solid Waste Office at 218-387-3630.

County Connections is a column on timely topics and service information from your Cook County government. Cook County – Supporting Community.