The Kentucky Community Assessment indicated that Campbell County residents desire less illegal dumping and littering in their community.  Many items illegally dumped are household hazardous wastes that cannot be disposed of in landfills.  According to the EPA, the average household generates more than 20 pounds of these wastes per year.  Products, such as paints, cleaners, oils, batteries, and pesticides contain hazardous ingredients that can catch fire, react, or explode under certain circumstances, or that are corrosive, and toxic require special care when you dispose of them.

The Northern Kentucky (NKY) Household Hazardous Waste Action Coalition is comprised of Boone, Campbell, and Kenton County Solid Waste Departments, Sanitation District NO. 1, Cities of Covington and Florence, and the Campbell County Extension Service.  The coalition received a $119,118 grant from the Kentucky Division of Waste Management to conduct a Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event on Nov. 6, 2021, at U.C. Health Stadium in Florence, KY. 

The County Extension Agent for Natural Resources and Environmental Management requested the Extension District Board to contribute $5000 in 2015 to help increase Campbell County participation and volunteerism at the event. Since then, the board has funded seven annual events investing $35,000 to address this issue.

The coalition members plan, recruit volunteers, conduct, and evaluate this yearly event.  www.nkyhhw.org is utilized to educate the community about household hazardous waste and provides collection event details.  A news article promoting the event and requesting volunteers, written by the Extension Agent, was published in the Campbell County Recorder (circulation - 17,000) on September 16, 2021. 

Members of the coalition, including the Extension Agent and 363 volunteers from NKY schools and businesses conducted the 2021 event.  2582 NKY residents participated, including 395 Campbell County residents.  Disposal and recycling vendors (Environmental Enterprises, Inc., and Tri State Escrap) reported collecting 256,632 pounds of household hazardous waste at this year’s event. Including:

• 109,575 lbs. electronics
• 7524 lbs. cleaners and aerosols
• 85,748 lbs. paint and adhesives
• 6973 lbs. pesticides and poisons
• 12,909 lbs. batteries
• 22,627 lbs. corrosives, flammables, and fuels
• 8518 lbs. propane cylinders and tanks
• 2758 lbs. light bulbs

18,097 people including 2961 Campbell County residents have properly disposed of household hazardous waste due to these events since 2015. Before Campbell County Extension became involved that year, participation averaged about 1400 people annually.  Since then, average participation is about 2600 people yearly (an increase of 1200 people). Campbell County participation has essentially doubled in that time frame.