With hurricane season starting June 1, Pinellas County is encouraging residents to safely dispose of household hazardous waste now as a part of their spring cleaning.

With hurricane season starting June 1, Pinellas County is encouraging residents to safely dispose of household hazardous waste now as a part of their spring cleaning. Many homes have old gasoline, leftover paint or worn-out batteries from tools or e-bikes in the garage or closet. During a hurricane, these everyday items can become hazardous by leaking, catching fire or creating pollution. Removing them now helps protect your home, family and neighborhood before a storm arrives. “Each year, we see people wait until a hurricane is approaching to clean out their garages, which leads to long lines at our drop-off centers and can quickly fill our fuel tanks,“ said Pinellas County Solid Waste Director Paul Sacco. “By dropping these items off early, residents can avoid delays and keep the community safer.” Pinellas County offers two free drop-off sites for household hazardous waste such as gasoline, oil, paint and rechargeable batteries: Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Center, 2855 109th Ave. N., St. Petersburg; open Tuesday through Friday and the first and third Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. HHW North, 29582 U.S. 19 N, Clearwater; open select Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visit Pinellas.gov/HHWcalendar for collection dates. The County will also host a special household chemical collection event on Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Treasure Island Community Center Park, 150 106th Ave., Treasure Island. The event will be open to all Pinellas County residents. The HHW program is for Pinellas County households only. A government-issued ID is required to verify residency.For a full list of accepted items and quantity limits, visit Pinellas.gov/hhw. For more information on how to safely dispose of batteries, visit Pinellas.gov/batteries. For business waste, visit our Business Electronics and Chemical Collection events on the second Wednesday of every month. For more information, visit Pinellas.gov/bizwaste. The post Pinellas County urges residents to safely dispose of household hazardous waste ahead of hurricane season appeared first on Pinellas County.