New Hanover County makes “doing the right thing” easy by providing residents with multiple options for recycling waste and diverting it from landfill disposal. Residents can bring household hazardous waste and electronics to the permanent facility located at 3002 US Highway 421 North (hours of operation below). There is no cost to county residents to use this service. Due to permit restrictions, we cannot accept hazardous chemicals from businesses. For households or businesses with a large quantity of electronics (10 or more large electronic devices such as TVs), please call ahead for a drop-off appointment.
New Hanover County also has a mobile household hazardous waste unit called the HazWagon, stationed at three locations – Ogden Park, Wrightsville Beach, and Carolina Beach – each week. In addition, beginning May 4, 2019, the HazWagon expanded services to Kure Beach on the first Saturday of each month (major holidays excluded). HazWagon locations & times of collection are below.
Residents can bring toxic materials and electronics to the HazWagon free of charge, as well as unpackaged food waste for the county’s composting program.
Permanent HHW Facility (located at 3002 U.S. Highway 421 North)
Mobile HazWagon Hours are 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the following locations:
*Note: No more than 10 gallons of liquid waste and no more than two TVs can be brought to the HazWagon at a time.
When storing chemicals in temporary containers, always mark the container with a description of the contents. This will help you avoid accidentally mixing potentially reactive chemicals and helps keep our attendants safe.
Day of the Week | Date | Holiday Observance | Main Facility | HazWagon |
Friday | Jan. 1st | New Year’s Day | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Monday | Jan. 18th | Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday | Open 10:00 – 2:00 | Ogden Park 10:00 – 2:00 |
Friday | April 2nd | Good Friday | Open 10:00 – 2:00 | Carolina Beach 10:00 – 2:00 |
Monday | May 31st | Memorial Day | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Sunday | July 4th | Independence Day | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Monday | Sept. 6th | Labor Day | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Thursday | Nov. 11th | Veteran’s Day | Open 10:00 – 2:00 | NO HAZWAGON |
Thursday | Nov. 25th | Thanksgiving | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Friday | Nov. 26th | Day after Thanksgiving | Open 10:00 – 2:00 | Carolina Beach 10:00 -2:00 |
Thursday | Dec. 23rd | County holiday | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Friday | Dec. 24th | Christmas Eve | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Saturday | Dec. 25th | Christmas | CLOSED | CLOSED |
Saturday | Jan. 1st, 2022 | New Year’s Day | CLOSED | CLOSED |
*If you need your fuel container back, don’t worry – we’ll empty the container and have it back to you in minutes! PLEASE NOTE that this only applies to the main facility and not the mobile unit. If visiting the mobile unit, the attendant cannot pour out liquid wastes and return your container due to safety concerns.
Please take “white goods” (refrigerators, washing machines, freezers, etc.) to the New Hanover County landfill for recycling.
For alternatives to disposal, click here.
New Hanover County Environmental Management Department has partnered with New Hanover County Public Libraries, UNCW, CFCC, and the Fort Fisher Aquarium to provide satellite collection points for battery recycling. In addition to the main facility at 3002 U.S. Highway 421 North and the mobile HazWagon, residents can bring used batteries for recycling to the following locations:
All materials brought to the Household Hazardous Waste permanent facility and HazWagon are either recycled, repurposed, neutralized, used for alternative power generation, or disposed of in accordance with state and federal law.
Did you know…
One gallon of motor oil can contaminate 1,000,000 gallons of fresh water.
Screens on older television sets can contain up to 10 pounds of lead.