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	Hazardous Waste Facility Information

Ramona Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility

When:	1st and 3rd Saturday of each month by appointment only
What:	Disposal of Household Hazardous Waste
Who:	Residents of Unincorporated Areas (Including the communities of Ramona, Julian, Santa Ysabel, Lakeside, Ranchita, etc.)
Where:	Ramona Permanent Collection Facility located at the Ramona Disposal Services Transfer Station at 324 Maple Street. (see map)

Appointment Required  - No Exceptions
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call (877)R1EARTH or (877) 713-2784.

What is Household Hazardous Waste?

Hazardous waste are unused or leftover portions of products containing toxic chemicals used around the home. Products labeled Caution, Warning, Danger, Poison, Toxic, Flammable or Corrosive are considered hazardous.

Household Hazardous Waste Includes Leftover:

The Facility will NOT Accept: Business waste, tires, explosives and radioactive material or medical waste!

Residential Customers Can Recycle your Household Batteries at Ramona Disposal

Did you know that Americans purchase nearly 3 billion dry-cell batteries every year to power radios, toys, cellular phones, watches, laptop computers, and portable power tools? Dry-cell batteries include alkaline and carbon zinc (9-volt, D, C, AA, AAA), mercuric-oxide (button, some cylindrical and rectangular), silver-oxide and zinc-air (button), and lithium (9-volt, C, AA, coin, button). On average, each person in the United States discards eight dry-cell batteries per year.

Batteries contain heavy metals such as mercury, lead, cadmium, and nickel, which can contaminate the environment when batteries are improperly disposed of. When incinerated, certain metals might be released into the air or can concentrate in the ash produced by the combustion process. Recycling batteries keeps heavy metals out of landfills and the air. Recycling also saves resources because recovered plastic and metals can be used to make new batteries.

One way to reduce the number of batteries in the waste stream is to purchase rechargeable batteries. Nearly one in five dry-cell batteries purchased in the United States is rechargeable. Over its useful life, each rechargeable battery may substitute for hundreds of single-use batteries.

Residential customers can now conveniently recycle your household batteries (AAA, AA, C, D, and 9V only) for FREE at Ramona Disposal (during operating hours only).

Ramona Disposal Buyback Center
324 Maple St.
Ramona, CA 92065
(760) 789-0516 

Important Information on Sharps Waste

New State Regulations
In September 2008, State law (Section 118286 of the California Health and Safety Code) made it illegal to dispose of sharps waste in the trash or recycling containers, and required that all sharps waste be transported to a collection center in an approved sharps container.

Section 117671 of the California Health and Safety Code defines "home-generated sharps waste" as hypodermic needles, pen needles, intravenous needles, lancets, and other devices that are used to penetrate the skin for the delivery of medications derived from a household, including a multifamily residence or household.

In addition to prohibiting the disposal of sharps waste in the trash, the Medical Waste Management Act requires home-generated sharps to be placed in approved containers for transport and disposal. Users should store the sharps waste in red bio-hazardous containers for easy identification or other approved containers.

Bio-hazard containers are available for purchase by consumers. Additionally, some jurisdictions have containers available at no cost. Information can be found at county health websites.

Bio-hazard containers can be disposed of in one of four ways:

• Taken to a local household hazardous waste facility;
• Taken to a medical waste generator facility (hospitals, clinics, or doctors’ offices);
• Shipped through a mail-back program;
• Taken to an approved home-generated sharps waste collection location.

Residential customers can now conveniently dispose of sharps FREE at Ramona Disposal (during operating hours only). LOOSE SHARPS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. Store sharps in approved sharps containers or in a rigid, puncture resistant, tightly sealed container, including: bleach bottles, liquid detergent bottles or coffee cans with lids. DO NOT STORE IN: paper or plastic bags, glass containers, cardboard or coated paper containers, plastic bottles that have a CRV (CA Redemption Value) or milk jugs.

Ramona Disposal Buyback Center
324 Maple St.
Ramona, CA 92065
(760) 789-0516 

To find a location to properly dispose of home-generated sharps, go to the California Integrated Waste Management Board’s Medical Waste Disposal Directory.

For more information, visit CIWMB's Sharps web page.

Click here for detailed information about the new state regulations. 

Home Needle Disposal

Receive a free mail-in sharps disposal container for home-generated sharps. Click here for details.

Universal Waste

The following universal wastes may not be placed out for curbside collection or disposed of in a bin/container meant for solid waste:

• Common Batteries – AA, AAA, D cells, C cells and button batteries (e.g. hearing aid batteries)
• Fluorescent tubes and bulbs including mercury containing lamps
• Electronic Devices – televisions, computers and computer monitors, printers, VCR’s, cell phones, telephones, radios and microwave ovens
• Pilot Light Sensors – Mercury containing switches are found in some gas appliances such as stoves, ovens, clothes dryers, water heaters, furnaces and space heaters
• Items containing Mercury – Gauges, thermometers, thermostats and switches
• Non-Empty aerosol cans that contain hazardous materials – cans that are labeled with TOXIC or FLAMMABLE that are not completely empty

Please call the County Household Hazardous Waste and recycling Toll Free Hotline for additional information: 1 877 R1EARTH or (877) 713-2784.