Residents in Utah County can drop off oil, paint, aerosols, gasoline, cleaners and pesticides at either of these locations for free year round. Electronics usually have a fee to offset the cost of transporting, safely destroying or recycling these items.

Terry Ficklin, general manager of the South Utah Valley Solid Waste District, says that people often throw away potentially hazardous items without realizing the damage they can cause.

“Rechargeable batteries can go bad. Please don’t dispose of them in garbage cans because they can start fires. In fact, all of the fires we have, which is generally one or two a week, are caused by the same thing: batteries. Fortunately, we have staff that are highly trained to deal with the problem, so it doesn’t ever become a reportable fire. Just some smoldering going on and we are able to catch it early,” Ficklin said.

Technology, such as computers contain rare metals, can contaminate landfills. It is better for the environment if they are melted down and reused in future devices.

According to the South County Solid Waste District website, residents can also drop off mattresses, lightbulbs, tires, “varnish, lawn care products, paint thinner, antifreeze, motor oil, diesel, automotive products, rechargeable and lead acid batteries in household quantities (anything under five gallons).”

Industrial-sized waste can be dropped off at the Carbon County Landfill in Price.