The Kern County Special Waste Facility accepts used batteries, fluorescent light bulbs and a list of other household hazardous waste.

My home is full of hazardous waste. I admit it. As much as I would like to think my house is safe for my family, we are surrounded by products that are, by law, too dangerous to throw away in the garbage to be taken to the landfill.

We’ve got cleaning products, paint, weed killers, fertilizers and nail polish. But the biggest culprits are batteries and fluorescent light bulbs. Since Feb. 9, 2006, California’s Universal Waste Rule has prohibited these two items from going into the trash. The heavy metals in batteries and the mercury in fluorescent lights may not seem hazardous in small

Employees at the Kern County Special Waste Facility tape the ends of batteries for safety.

quantities, but in large volumes they are too dangerous for the environment to be simply buried in dirt with the rest of our household garbage.

In Bakersfield, there is only one place to take household hazardous waste: the Kern County Special Waste Facility at 4951 Standard Street, west of Buck Owens Boulevard.

After saving up a bag full of dead batteries – and one spent compact fluorescent light bulb – I recently made my annual law-abiding trip to the facility. My ulterior motive,

All batteries are sealed with duct tape for safe storage and transport.

however, was to learn more about the disposal of these items, and how many people actually dispose of them properly.

I met with Lyn Beurmann, waste management supervisor, and Jaimy Gentry, waste management specialist. This is what I learned:

How much?

• About 1 to 3 percent of the hazardous waste stream actually makes it to the proper disposal facility.
• In 2008, Kern County residents turned in 25,400 pounds of household
  batteries and 43,000 pounds of fluorescent light bulbs.
• Also in 2008, the special waste facility collected a total of 851,096 pounds of hazardous waste.
• Do the math, and that means millions of pounds of hazardous waste are still going into landfills in Kern County.

Disc-shaped lithium batteries are taped around the sides and lined up between two pieces of duct tape for safety.

How are the batteries handled?

Since dead batteries still have residual amounts of energy in them, it is possible that batteries in a container could react to each other and even spark a fire. For this reason, employees at the special waste facility use duct tape to cover the ends of the batteries. To cover the disc-shaped lithium batteries, they line them up on a strip of duct tape and fold the tape over.

For people who store up a bucket or bag full of batteries to bring to the facility, “we encourage them to tape the ends of their batteries at home,” Beurmann said. Yes, it’s tedious. But “hazardous waste is costly to handle safely and correctly,” she said.

The batteries are packed for shipping into large drums which each hold about 250 pounds.

Where do the batteries go from Bakersfield?

The batteries are shipped to facilities all over the country that dispose of each type differently. There are three main types of household batteries: alkaline (such as AAs), lithium (such as for hearing aids) and nicad (rechargeable battery packs such as for power tools).

• Nonrechargeable alkaline batteries are typically not recycled. They are encapsulated in concrete and put in a concrete-lined vault at a Class I hazardous waste landfill.
• Lithium batteries typically have the mercury pulled out of them and are then incinerated.
• Nicads are recycled.

What about rechargeable batteries?

By law, stores that sell rechargeable batteries must collect used ones for recycling. The Kern County Special Waste Facility also collects them for recycling. To learn more about recycling rechargeable batteries, visit the website for the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation at www.call2recycle.org or call 877-723-1297.

What happens to fluorescent light bulbs?

Fluorescent light tubes and compact fluorescent bulbs are packed in cardboard boxes for shipping. Beurmann recommends saving the original packaging for tubes and bulbs so people can safely transport them to the special waste facility. Broken fluorescents are very dangerous because they can leak mercury. For this reason, she also recommends packing them individually in cardboard and not taping them together.

The tubes and bulbs are shipped to a recycling facility where the mercury and phosphorus are extracted and the glass is recycled.

More information:

Kern County Special Waste Facility
4951 Standard Street, Bakersfield
661-862-8922
Open: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday
Eastern Region:
17035 Finnin Street, Mojave
800-552-KERN, option 6
Open: 9 a.m. to noon first Saturday of every month

Residents cannot bring more than 15 gallons or 125 pounds of waste at a time. Businesses must call to make an appointment. Drop off is free for residents. There is a per-pound fee for businesses, which varies depending on the material.

Find a comprehensive recycling guide in the back of your AT&T Yellow Pages or online at www.co.kern.ca.us/wmd/services/recycle/recycle.html

Items accepted:

• Automotive products and motor oil
• Batteries (household and automotive)
• Televisions and computer monitors up to 19 inches
• Fertilizers
• Mercury thermometers
• Fluorescent light bulbs
• Household cleaning products
• Paint and paint products
• Pesticides and weed killers
• Photo chemicals
• Pool and spa chemicals
• Sharps and needles – pick up a free biohazard container at the facility