What to do with household hazardous waste

Bonded Asbestos Products (e.g. sheets, pipes and gutters)

Asbestos is not classified as household waste and as such we are not obliged to accept it at any of it's sites for disposal.

However, it is recognised that householders may need to dispose of small amounts of asbestos. Therefore, a service is offered to provide householders with a site where they can deposit these small quantities. A strict procedure has to be followed to allow a householder to deposit asbestos at our nominated site. Our nominated site and the only site in the city that will accept asbestos waste is the Burslem Household Waste and Recycling Centre at Federation Road Burslem.

We will only accept asbestos:

• Produced by householders from their own property.
• From residents of the city
• Two bags only 

We will only accept asbestos in the following forms:

• Cement bonded asbestos sheeting
• Guttering and downspouts
• flues

How can I arrange to dispose of asbestos?

• Complete a disclaimer form at the Burslem site and collect 2 red asbestos bags
• Fill the two red bags with the asbestos
• Bags must be sealed
• Only red asbestos bags provided by us will be accepted
• See attendant to gain access to the container and deposit your waste

The site will only accept small amounts of asbestos from each household and the number of visits will be monitored to ensure this facility is not abused.  In addition you may be asked to provide proof that you are a resident of the city. This service is free of charge where the above criteria is met.

For waste in excess of the specified quantity or for waste generated through commercial channels (i.e. building, renovation and demolition work on your house) a licensed commercial waste disposal company should be commissioned and can be found through local directories.

LPG Gas Cylinders

These are not accepted on any of the household waste and recycling sites and should be returned to an agent or retailer of LPG supplier.

Garden Chemicals

In most garden sheds there are several bottles or packets of garden chemicals that have been inherited with the property or left over from previous work. Generally speaking garden chemicals do degrade over time and may become ineffective. Try to buy the amount you need for one season as this could save you money in the long run.

If you have garden chemicals that have decreased in their effectiveness, do not be tempted to increase the concentration as this does not always increase the effectiveness of the treatment but can increase the risk to the environment of the material.

If you have to dispose of concentrated chemicals or have unidentified containers of chemicals, you can take it to the Burslem Household waste and recycling centre and ask a member of staff on site to put them in the chemical store for you. These chemicals can then be properly  identified and disposed of accordingly.

Take special care if the label is marked with a hazard-warning label.

NEVER be tempted to pour either diluted or undiluted chemicals down the drain. This can seriously affect the treatment of water at the sewage plant and the ability to be recycled back into natural watercourses.     

 Chemical containers

• Please rinse these three times and pour the diluted contents onto uncultivated ground
• Make sure you vigorously shake the container to clean out all residue chemicals
• This container can then be placed in the normal refuse
• These containers are not suitable for plastic recycling due to the possible contamination of future plasic products