6 Things Pennsylvanians Can’t Legally Put Out With the Household Trash

Dead alkaline batteries from your remote can go out with your regular trash.

That one’s easy. Not everything in your garage or basement gets the same pass, though.

These are the things Pennsylvanians can’t legally put out with the household trash.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Disposal rules are subject to change, so confirm the current requirements with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

1. Televisions

Your old television is a covered device, which Pennsylvania law bars from municipal solid waste.

A covered television is any consumer set with a tuner and a viewable screen of four inches or larger.

Tube, plasma, liquid crystal and light-emitting diode sets all count, so the ban covers the flat screen in your den and the old set in your basement.

Even a small set counts.

The ban began in January 2013.

Waste Dive reported at the time that trash collectors would no longer pick up covered electronics.

To find where a television goes instead, DEP points you to its list of collection sites and a toll-free Recycling Hotline.

2. Computer Monitors

Pennsylvania’s covered-device law names computer monitors outright.

Its wording takes in any computer monitor sold for consumer use.

Yours counts.

Waste Dive reported in 2013 that a typical tube monitor contains four to seven pounds of lead.

DEP says undamaged electronics can generally be recycled or reused, so your monitor has other places to go if it still works.

DEP also warns that a broken or damaged device may count as hazardous waste and can need special handling for disposal.

If it still works, DEP calls donation “a great option.”

3. Desktop and Laptop Computers

A desktop or notebook computer is named in the covered-device law, which puts your old laptop under the same state ban.

Parts count too.

The ban names a covered device “or any of its components,” and the act never defines that word.

The act covers computers “marketed and intended for use by a consumer,” which is why a household desktop falls under it.

The act also bars a manufacturer or retailer from charging you for collecting or recycling a covered device, unless it gives you an incentive of equal or greater value.

The Covered Device Recycling Act requires manufacturers to provide recycling programs for the desktop and laptop computers they sell to consumers in Pennsylvania.

4. Printers and Keyboards

The covered-device law defines a peripheral as a keyboard, a printer or any other device sold only for external use with a computer.

That puts your old printer and keyboard under the same ban as a desktop computer.

The definition leaves out adaptive and assistive technologies.

Those devices are exempt.

A mobile phone isn’t a covered computer under the act, which leaves out servers, professional workstations and mobile phones.

5. Whole Tires

Your old tires fall under Pennsylvania’s tire recycling law, which says no person may knowingly mix whole used or waste tires with solid waste headed for a landfill.

Landfill operators can’t accept whole tires for disposal, with a few exceptions, such as shredding or splitting them first.

A landfill may also accept them if it puts them to alternative uses or passes them to a facility that reuses, recycles or burns them for fuel.

The law leaves out occasional tires that end up mixed in with your trash unknowingly and inadvertently.

Knowingly is the trigger.

A first violation is a summary offense with a fine of $100 to $1,000.

You also can’t hand whole tires to a waste tire hauler that lacks valid authorization.

For drop-off options, DEP’s waste tire page sends residents to county and municipal collection programs and drop-off search tools.

6. Lead-Acid Batteries

A DEP notice for battery sellers says it is illegal to discard a motor vehicle or other lead-acid battery.

When you buy a new battery, state law requires the seller to accept your old one in exchange.

Larksville's mandatory recycling ordinance tells residents to deliver a used lead-acid battery to a battery retailer, a smelter or an authorized recycler.

The ordinance says no other form of disposal is lawful.

Only three options.

Household Hazardous Waste

You may legally put household hazardous waste in your regular trash if your community lacks a collection program or you must discard it before the next event.

DEP strongly urges you to dispose of it properly instead.

Unlike the items above, it comes with conditions, from following the label's disposal directions to putting it out in small quantities over several collection periods.

Counties, municipalities and commercial haulers sponsor drop-off events and sites, and most municipal programs require you to live there.

Not every site takes everything. Pesticides and flammable materials are examples of items some locations turn away.

Confirm before driving.

Alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries are an easier case, since they may go in your normal household trash.

Used Motor Oil

Pennsylvania's used oil law puts limits on where used motor oil can go.

No person may deposit used oil into sewers or onto public or private land unless a collection site or storage facility takes it.

Civil penalties run up to $1,000 for each violation.

DEP's fact sheet says oil you can't recycle belongs in a safe, tightly closed container.

To find a drop-off, DEP's motor oil page points you to its RecycleSearch directory, a Recycling Hotline and your county recycling coordinator.

Call ahead.

DEP says to confirm that an outlet is still accepting used motor oil before you visit.

If you change your oil at home, labeling it "Waste Oil" is a best practice rather than a requirement.

Local Recycling Rules

Pennsylvania's recycling law requires larger municipalities to recycle, so your town may have recycling rules that decide what stays out of your trash.

Under Act 101, municipalities of 10,000 or more must recycle, and so must those with more than 5,000 residents and over 300 people per square mile.

Population decides.