HHW Accepted and Prohibited Items

Below is a list of household hazardous waste (HHW) items accepted by the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) HHW program. Download a printable list here.

*PLEASE NOTE, HHW COLLECTION AT OUR FACILITIES IS CURRENTLY ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE*

Set up a drop-off appointment and register your waste at rdn.bc.ca/hhw.

Accepted items

Automotive Products
  • Air conditioner refrigerant
  • Auto body filler
  • Auto body paint (non-aerosol)
  • Detailing products
    • Anti-fog treatment
    • Automobile wax
    • Cleaners and shampoos
    • Glass cleaner
    • Interior detailer
    • Leather conditioner
    • Mag alloy wheel cleaner
    • Odour eliminator
    • Plastic cleaner
    • Polishes
    • Rubber treatment
    • Salt stain remover
    • Tire shine
    • Upholstery stain guard
    • Water repellent glass treatment
  • Diesel fuel (in a ULC-approved container)
  • Fuel and oil additives
    • Cooling system additive
    • Fuel stabilizer
    • Fuel system cleaner
    • Injector cleaner
    • Octane booster
    • Oil treatment
    • Radiator stop leak
  • Hardeners (curing agents)
  • Oil or fuel-soaked fabrics or debris
  • Windshield washer fluid
Household Products
  • Bleach
  • Cleaners
    • Abrasive cleaner
    • All-purpose cleaner
    • Ammonia
    • Carpet shampoo
    • Concrete cleaner
    • Degreaser
    • Floor cleaner
    • Grout/masonry cleaner
    • Metal cleaner
    • Oven cleaner
    • Stove polish
    • Toilet bowl cleaner
    • Upholstery cleaner
    • Wax remover
    • Window/glass cleaner
  • Disinfectants
  • Drain opener
  • Lamp oil, torch oil and lighter fluid
  • Lye (sodium hydroxide)
  • Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid)
  • Polishes and waxes
  • Pool and hot tub chemicals
    • Pool shock
    • Chlorinating and brominating products
    • pH adjusters
    • Stabilizers and buffers
    • Alkalinity adjusters
    • Hardness adjuster
  • Rust remover and descaler
  • Spot and stain remover
Building Supply Products
  • Caulking
  • Foam sealant
  • Glues and adhesives (non-flammable)
  • Powdered concrete product (with corrosive symbol)
  • Sealers
    • Concrete sealer
    • Floor finish (wax)
    • Grout sealer
    • Impregnator
    • Multi-purpose sealer
    • Stone sealer
    • Tile sealer
  • Resins and fillers
  • Solvents (non-flammable)
  • Tar, asphalt and rubber-based coatings
    • Asphalt repair/emulsion
    • Black top sealer
    • Coal tar sealer
    • Driveway Sealer
    • Foundation coating
    • Pothole filler
    • Roofing tar
    • Rubber cement
    • Rubber membrane
  • Two-part paints
Gardening & Pest Control Products
  • Chemical fertilizers
  • Flea/tick pet products
  • Insect and pest repellents
  • Pesticides (label missing the Poison Symbol or "DOMESTIC")
Hobby Chemicals
  • Chemistry sets
  • Electroplating solutions
  • Home laboratory chemicals
  • Metal and glass etchants
  • Photographic chemicals
Personal Care Products
  • Hair dye
  • Hairspray
  • Nail polish remover
  • Rubbing alcohol
Compressed gases
  • Bear spray
  • Butane canisters
  • Non-refillable gas cylinders (disposal surcharges apply)
    • Carbon dioxide cylinders (some cylinders exempt from surcharges)
    • Calibration gases
    • Disposable refrigerant cylinders
  • Refillable gas cylinders (125 cf max) (disposal surcharges apply)
    • Welding/shielding gases, e.g. argon 
    • Cutting gases, e.g. acetylene
    • Oxygen gas
  • Two-part expanding foam or adhesive tanks (disposal surcharges apply)
Mercury-Containing Products
  • Liquid mercury
  • Mercury switches
  • Thermometers and barometers
  • Thermostats

Special HHW

Special HHW includes highly toxic materials that require special handling and disposal, such as, but not limited to:

  • Cyanide solids and cyanide containing solutions
  • Hydrofluoric acid
  • Nitric acid
  • Air or water reactive substances, e.g. sodium metal, powdered metals, sodium methoxide
  • Any substance of a form, concentration and/or volume that poses a high human health or environmental hazard risk, as determined by RDN staff

Disposal surcharges apply to Special HHW items. 

Prohibited items

  • Provincial HHW recycling program materials
  • Agricultural, business, industrial and institutional hazardous wastes
  • Ammunition, flares and fireworks (explosives)
  • Bilge water
  • Biohazardous and pharmaceutical substances
  • Toxic, corrosive or unlabeled compressed gases
  • Non-hazardous wastes
    • Dried out products
    • Empty containers
    • Personal care products (unless labeled flammable)
    • Spend sorbent materials

Search rdn.bc.ca/what-goes-where to find where to dispose of these items.