Hard-to-Handle Materials

Waste Management has developed several collection programs to help both residential and commercial customers manage their hard-to-handle materials. From swimming pool chemicals to electronic waste material, we’re working to help businesses dispose of items not suitable for regular waste bins.

 Homes and businesses are filled with ordinary items and materials that require extraordinary disposal, handling and recycling methods, due largely to their chemical composition. Paint, automotive products, swimming pool chemicals, household cleaners, flammable and combustible items, garden chemicals, batteries, consumer electronics and items containing mercury, such as fluorescent lamps, should not be placed in regular solid waste bins. Instead, we’ve developed several collection programs to help residential, commercial and industrial customers properly manage hard-to-handle materials.

For commercial customers, Waste Management Tracker Services enables businesses to dispose of universal and special wastes through a simple, safe and compliant mail-back method. This comprehensive program includes recycling kits for fluorescent lamps and bulbs, lighting ballasts, batteries, electronics, aerosol cans, thermometers, thermostats and dental amalgam, as well as safe disposal kits for sharps, medical waste and prescription and over-the-counter drugs and smoke detectors

Electronic waste material (e-waste), such as old or broken computers, printers and mobile devices, is a topic of significant environmental concern. It is the fastest-growing waste segment in North America, with more than 3 million tons generated annually in the U.S. alone.

Waste Management delivers electronic recycling solutions that are convenient to use, cost-effective and environmentally responsible. Our electronics recycling services can meet an organization’s specific needs, with secure transport options from any point in the U.S. or Canada.

Waste Management manages national retail and regional residential programs for the recycling of white goods. This includes refrigerators, freezers, stoves, washers, dryers, microwave ovens, ranges, water coolers, air conditioner units and other residential appliances.

The healthcare industry generates difficult-to-treat wastes, including infectious, pathological, trace chemotherapy and wasted pharmaceuticals. Waste Management works with the healthcare industry to reduce infectious medical waste and to provide facility-specific advice on means to increase recycling and ensure protective disposal of these diverse waste streams.

 Learn more about our collection programs for hard to handle materials in our recently published 2020 Sustainability Report (WM SR2020).