Free, safe disposal of hazardous waste

Los Angeles County residents can dispose of household hazardous and electronic waste at the Countywide Household Hazardous Waste Roundup from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sat., Dec. 2 at the Civic Center rear parking lot, 23519 W. Civic Center Way, Malibu.

Residents can bring up to 15 gallons or 125 pounds of household hazardous waste per vehicle to the roundup. There is no charge to dispose of waste.

Household hazardous waste includes antifreeze, car batteries, used motor oil, paint and pesticides. Electronic waste such as TVs and monitors, computers, VCRs, stereos and cellphones will also be accepted. Residents can also bring "universal" waste such as household batteries and fluorescent light bulbs to discard.

"The improper disposal of household hazardous waste poses a public health threat," said Malibu Mayor Ken Kearsley. "By participating in these free, convenient roundups, we are able to help do our part to avoid serious pollution problems that could result if these items end up in our landfills or down our storm drains."

Since the first Household Hazardous Waste Roundup in 1988, more than 763,000 households have participated in the weekly roundups. Residents have dropped off more than 3.9 million gallons of paint, 904,000 gallons of used motor oil, 174 tons of dry-cell batteries, 65 tons of used oil filters and thousands of pounds of other miscellaneous household hazardous waste items. More than 80 percent of the household hazardous waste and 100 percent of the electronic waste collected by the program is recycled.

Residents from the neighboring cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Los Angeles and Westlake Village are invited to participate.