2021-04-20 09:40 Share:  Facebook Instagram

Household chemical packaging cannot be placed in secondary waste containers: how to dispose of it properly?

Household chemical packaging cannot be placed in secondary waste containers: how to dispose of it properly?

Residents in Lithuania are increasingly concerned about responsible waste sorting – sorting containers are filled with tens of thousands of tons of plastic, paper, glass, metal packaging every year, and the focus on textile sorting is growing. However, specialists say that there is still too little attention paid to waste, one of which is household chemical packaging.

Various detergents, cleaners, bleaches, solvents, certain cosmetics, glues, varnishes, paints – many of them are marked with special signs warning of containing hazardous substances. However, used packaging that contained household chemicals usually ends up in one of three containers – plastic, glass or household waste, and this practice is improper.

"At home, packaging is formed from various materials, in which household chemicals are usually stored. Residents throw such packaging into plastic, paper, glass or simply household waste containers, often ignoring the labelling on them, although such packaging contains environmentally hazardous residues of household chemicals and should be sorted separately," – Paulius Repšys, the Commercial Director of Žalvaris, the largest hazardous and non-hazardous waste management facility in Lithuania, is convinced.

However, residents do not even have a choice to behave differently, there are no specially designed containers in convenient places near the house yet. There are two ways left: either to dispose of the packaging in a household or secondary waste container, disregarding the labelling and hazard statements on the packaging; or to go on the path of awareness – to collect such packages separately, and then to deliver them to the bulky waste collection site as waste contaminated with hazardous substances.

"Such sites are not difficult to find in every municipality, they are designed for the collection of specific waste generated by households. At these sites, residents can hand over a variety of household hazardous waste: liquids – cleaners, paints, glues, alkalis, acids, as well as various packaging contaminated with chemicals," – Paulius Repšys says.

According to the specialist, unfortunately, few people use this possibility of handling household chemical packaging, although 74% of the respondents would like to sort such waste, according to a public opinion poll commissioned by Žalvaris.

7 out of 10 residents would like to see a container for the collection of hazardous waste generated by households next to household waste, plastic and glass containers, which would encourage them to sort more responsibly. 15% of the respondents have the opposite opinion and say that they throw this waste into any of the containers near the house, so the appearance of a special container is not important to them. 11% of the respondents have no opinion on this issue.

"If we are already starting to sort textiles – clothing, footwear, haberdashery, bedding, the next important step should be decisions related to the sorting and handling of chemical products packaging generated by households," – the representative of Žalvaris is convinced.

Paulius Repšys points out that by throwing contaminated packaging into clean, sorted secondary waste containers, we harm ourselves, and all sorting work is wasted – such packaging becomes one rotten apple spoiling the whole barrel, thus all the plastic or paper in the container may be contaminated. In addition, chemicals, especially if packaging is not tightly closed, evaporate, releasing hazardous vapours.

"It is important to know that packaging for recycling must be clean and free of chemicals, this applies to both plastic and paper, metal. Even after rinsing the household chemical container, product residues do not wash out completely, so this packaging should be collected separately and handled as hazardous waste," – Paulius Repšys says.

According to the interlocutor, the aforementioned waste can be used efficiently for energy production without adversely affecting the environment. Therefore, he advises more closely to follow the labels on the packaging and in the case of finding such signs as flame, corrosion, exclamation mark or environmental hazard, to stop – these packages must be disposed of responsibly.

The survey of the Lithuanian residents, during which 1,014 respondents were interviewed, was conducted in February 2021 by public opinion research company Spinter tyrimai.

Agree
Cancel