Waste Pesticide Program

Mission Statement: To collect & properly dispose of canceled, suspended or otherwise unusable pesticides and minimize further accumulation through education and outreach.

Updated April 15, 2008

Waste Pesticide Program Overview

Frequently Asked Questions

Contact Information

Collection Schedule

View or Print out Blank Pesticide Inventory Form

View or Print out Pesticide Inventory Instructions and sample inventory form

Photo Gallery

Waste Pesticide Collection Events
Unsafe / Illegal Storage
Illegal Dumping
Plastic Pesticide Container Recycling

Links & Other Resources

Waste Pesticide Disposal Information

WSDA's Waste Pesticide Identification and Disposal Program, in cooperation with local agencies, regularly collects unusable agricultural and commercial grade pesticides from residents, farmers, business owners and public agencies free of charge. Events are held in counties across the state where customers can bring their unusable agricultural chemicals for proper disposal. The schedule for the spring events is published in January of each year. The fall schedule is published by July. Potential customers can contact WSDA for more information or to be notified of scheduled events in their area.

The goal of this program is to properly dispose of unused or unusable pesticides and to eliminate the potential source of contamination to the environment. Depending on the available funding, WSDA holds eight to twenty regional collections statewide each year. These collections are one or two day-day events depending on the amount of pesticides collected. In addition to the larger regional events, the Waste Pesticide Identification and Disposal Program will also collect unusable pesticides from a single farm or business location due to special hazards or transportation concerns.

Before a collection, WSDA staff will help customers identify the contents of unknown containers and give them the supplies needed to ensure safe transportation of broken or leaky containers to the waste collection site. Household hazardous wastes are not accepted at these collections, however most Washington State counties have a household hazardous waste program. To find out more about household hazardous waste disposal in your county, contact you local solid waste program or call 1-800-cleanup or visit the Earth 911 website.

To date, the Waste Pesticide Identification and Disposal Program has safely disposed of over 2 million pounds of unusable pesticides from over 6,000 customers since the program was initiated in 1988. (appx 338 lbs/customer.)

In addition to WSDA's Waste Pesticide Identification and Disposal Program, the Washington Pest Consultants Association sponsors a statewide plastic pesticide Container Disposal Program. The Agricultural Container Recycling Council sponsors a national pesticide container recycling program and is an excellent source for container recycling information. The Washington State Department of Ecology's Hazardous Waste and Toxics Reduction Program provides information on reducing and preventing hazardous waste.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do I qualify for this free program? The program is available to everyone who has unusable agricultural and commercial grade pesticides: Washington residents, farmers, homeowners, business owners, and public agencies.

2. What items are acceptable for disposal? This program accepts pesticide formulations only. Pesticides include insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides and herbicides. We cannot accept empty containers or other waste such as fertilizers, motor oils, paint, solvents, etc. To dispose of such items, contact your County Solid Waste Department or your local Household Hazardous Waste (HHW )or Hazo-house program. Most hand-held aerosol cans are acceptable.

3. How do I determine whether my pesticides are unusable? Unusable pesticides are those which cannot be used because the registration has been canceled or suspended such as DDT, EDB, endrin, dinoseb and chlordane. This includes products that you cannot use due to product age, loss of label, or the product is no longer needed (retired from farming), etc.

4. Are there any costs to participate? No, funding comes from the State Model Toxics Control Account. Customers do not pay any fees.

5. Is there any paperwork involved? After signing up, customers are assigned a customer I.D. number and given an inventory sheet along with instructions. The information customers provide on the inventory sheet is used by the Program to safely plan an event. We use them to screen items coming into an event, and to generate transportation documents.

6. What if I feel unsafe handling the chemicals I have? WSDA may provide on-site assistance to safely over pack items that are dangerous or in unstable (leaking or corroded) containers. We also provide clear, plastic over pack bags to customers free of charge, upon request .

7. What if I can't identify the chemicals I have? Contact us for assistance. A mystery container may be the most hazardous feature on your property, especially if you have curious children or the container is leaking. We will help to identify the contents and, if it is a pesticide, we will arrange to have it removed at no cost to you.

8. What if some of my materials are not accepted by this program? WSDA can assist in finding free, local options for disposal. Please contact the Pesticide Disposal Program, or see our Links to other Resources

9. What happens when I sign up? Customers who sign up are given a customer I.D. number, because customer names do not appear on any manifests or disposal documents. That is significant since, in most cases, owners of hazardous materials are responsible for life for the cost of disposal or any environmental cleanup that may be needed should a transportation accident or disposal site leak occur.

Customers are also given an inventory sheet to complete and return to the WSDA Pesticide Disposal Program by a pre-determined deadline. Once completed inventory forms are returned to our office, we screen them for materials that may need special handling or may not qualify under our program. In either case, the customer is contacted or special arrangements are made.

If the customer has ordered plastic over pack bags (the order form is on the inventory sheet), bags are mailed to the customer after the inventory is processed.

About 10 days prior to the collection event, a packet is mailed to customers containing a map with directions to the site, a confirmation letter with a scheduled time slot during which to show up, and any necessary transportation documents.

On the day of the scheduled event, the customer, or their designee, transports their pesticides to the collection site. Customer vehicles are unloaded by WSDA staff.

After the customer's vehicle is unloaded, the customer and a WSDA representative sign a Declaration of Waste Pesticide. This is so that WSDA can take legal possession of the pesticides. WSDA becomes the owner of the pesticides before they are turned over to the contractor, who packs them for safe transport and disposal.

Sign up

Advance notification is required to participate. Sign up or request to be notified of the next disposal event in your county area by sending the following information to the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Pesticide Disposal Program at any of the Contact Information options listed below: