The state's second annual free pesticide disposal program is in full swing across the islands.
Hosted by the Pesticides Branch of the state Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity, the program is open to commercial businesses wanting to dispose of excess pesticide products.
This year marks the second annual event after an almost 16-year hiatus. The last series of statewide drop-offs brought in nearly 40,000 pounds of hazardous, expired, or unwanted pesticides.
Adam Williams, the program manager and an environmental health specialist with the department, stressed the importance of safely and responsibly disposing of unused products.
“If you have old or deteriorating pesticides, they can leak or spill and that can pose risks to human health, contaminate soil, groundwater, or the surrounding ecosystem,” Williams said.
“Some folks have random jugs or bottles with a product in it that's been there for 20 or 30 years, and they don't know what it is but they just know their father or their grandfather used to use it.”
Each participant can drop off up to 250 pounds of pesticides. Williams noted that many participants have more than the maximum amount, and he believes this year will bring many returnees who couldn't get rid of their entire stock last year.
Pesticides have to undergo a re-registration process through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to verify the product is still safe and usable, leaving many farmers and pest control specialists with a large stockpile of unusable pesticides.
“Some of their products are too hazardous to use, but they have no way of getting rid of them, or sometimes people will buy one type in bulk because it was cheaper at the time, and they end up realizing that product wasn't as efficient as they hoped, so now they have all this extra lying around,” Williams said.
After the collection events, the state ships the collected products to an EPA-regulated hazardous waste disposal facility on the continent, where the products are incinerated.
Household pesticides are not accepted in this program, but individuals can dispose of their products through their county’s household hazardous waste events.
The program has already hit Oʻahu, and will be going to Maui next, on Oct. 30, though registration has ended.
Registration for the Nov. 19 Molokaʻi drop-off closes on Oct. 29. The drop-off will be on Hawaiʻi Island last, with its Dec. 12 Hilo event and its Dec. 16 Kona event. Interested parties can register here.
