What You Can't Take to the Dump, and Where It Goes Instead

The table lists items that dumps commonly refuse or handle separately, why, and where they usually go. Our directory includes household hazardous waste (HHW) facilities and tire recyclers, and facility pages note when a landfill or transfer station has its own drop-off area for these items.

EPA describes household hazardous waste as leftover household products that can catch fire, react or explode under certain circumstances, or that are corrosive or toxic. Its examples include paints, cleaners, oils, batteries and pesticides. Federally, waste from normal household activities is excluded from hazardous waste regulation under 40 CFR 261.4, but states can be stricter, and HHW is managed at the state and local level.

EPA's advice is not to pour these products down the drain, on the ground or into storm sewers, and in some cases not to put them out with the regular trash. Instead, find a local HHW facility or collection event. Keep products in their original containers with labels, never mix them, and pack them upright so nothing leaks on the way.

Paint has its own system in some places. PaintCare runs paint recycling programs on behalf of paint manufacturers in California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Elsewhere, ask your HHW program or local solid waste office how it wants leftover latex and oil-based paint handled.

Refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners and dehumidifiers contain refrigerant that must be recovered before the appliance is scrapped. Under EPA's safe disposal requirements, the final person in the disposal chain, such as a scrap metal recycler or landfill, is responsible for making sure that happens. They do it either by recovering the refrigerant themselves or by obtaining a signed statement from whoever dropped off the appliance, giving the name and address of the person who recovered it and the date.

In practice that means a landfill or scrap yard may charge a per-unit fee to recover refrigerant, refuse appliances without paperwork, or send you to a separate appliance area. Some states go further: Massachusetts and North Carolina both ban large appliances (white goods) from disposal. Call ahead before hauling one.

EPA says lithium-ion batteries, and devices containing them, should not go in household garbage or recycling bins because they can be damaged during collection and processing and cause fires. Take them to a battery recycling or HHW collection point, and tape the terminals or put each battery in its own plastic bag first.

Electronics rules depend on your state. Among the states with electronics recycling laws, the Electronics Recycling Coordination Clearinghouse lists disposal bans in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, while Maine's ban covers CRTs and mercury-containing products. Massachusetts separately bans cathode ray tubes under its own waste bans. Where a ban applies, use a registered e-waste collector, a manufacturer or retailer take-back program, or an HHW event.

States can ban specific materials from landfills, and the lists are longer than many people expect. North Carolina's Department of Environmental Quality lists these bans for general landfills: antifreeze, aluminum cans, beverage containers from ABC permit holders, computer equipment and televisions, lead-acid batteries, motor vehicle oil filters, oyster shells, plastic bottles, scrap tires, used oil, white goods, wooden pallets and yard trash, with lithium-ion batteries added effective December 1, 2026. Its C&D landfills may not take fluorescent lights or mercury thermostats, with photovoltaic modules added on the same date.

Massachusetts bans, among other things, asphalt pavement, brick, concrete, wood and clean gypsum wallboard; cathode ray tubes; glass, metal and plastic containers; recyclable paper and cardboard; leaves and yard waste; lead-acid batteries; metals; large appliances; whole tires from landfills; and textiles, with mattresses and textiles added in November 2022. If you live in a state with bans like these, sorting is not optional, and facility staff are expected to enforce them.

EPA lists roofing and siding shingles, vinyl floor tiles and sheet-flooring backing, textured paint and patching compounds, coverings on hot water and steam pipes, and vermiculite attic insulation among the places asbestos may be found in older homes. Its advice is to leave undamaged material alone and have removal and major repairs done by trained, qualified people.

Under the federal asbestos NESHAP, asbestos waste must be sealed while wet in leak-tight containers, labeled, and disposed of at a landfill qualified to receive it. The NESHAP's renovation and demolition rules exclude residential buildings with four or fewer dwelling units, but states and localities may have their own requirements, and an ordinary landfill or transfer station will not accept asbestos in a regular load. Ask your state environmental agency which landfills are approved.