first westside collection center
Household hazardous waste center opens
BY ANNE BURKE
UCLA Today Staff
Just in time for spring cleaning, West Los Angeles’ first
hazardous waste collection center is now open for business at UCLA.
Operated by the university and the City of Los Angeles, the UCLA
Household Hazardous Waste Facility may be used by any individual
regardless of city of residence or university affiliation. Business
waste, however, will not be accepted.
The center is located at 550 Charles E. Young Drive West at Strathmore
Drive.
“Just pull up in front and drop your stuff off,” said
Gia Dowling, senior administrative analyst for Environment, Health
and Safety at UCLA.
Open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., the
center accepts a broad range of items, including paint, solvents,
used automotive fluids, cleaning products, pool and garden chemicals,
aerosol cans, medicine, used motor oil and filters, and used car
and household batteries.
On Saturdays only, the center accepts electronic waste, including
computers, monitors, printers, cables, telephones, televisions,
microwaves, video games and cell phones.
While all these items are considered hazardous waste, consumers
often toss them in the trash, Dowling said. “It ends up going
to a landfill and when it rains, it breaks down and gets sucked
into the soil right into the ocean. This is why we can’t eat
certain kinds of fish anymore.”
Because of its medical and research operations, UCLA generates
and disposes of large amounts of its own hazardous waste. Three
years ago, the campus began hosting waste roundups for the city.
Before the center’s March 25 opening, Westside residents
had to drive to collection sites at Playa del Rey, Sun Valley or
Boyle Heights to dispose of hazardous waste.
Besides business waste, the center will not take such items as
ammunition, explosives, radioactive material, biological waste,
tires, household furniture and large appliances.
For more information, visit www.ehs.ucla.edu/CW_House_Haz_Waste.html.
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