The 2023 Kentucky Community Assessment indicated that Campbell County residents desire less illegal dumping and littering in their community. Respondents specifically requested programs on watershed protection, dumping / littering, pesticide use, and pollution reduction. Many items that are illegally dumped are household hazardous wastes (HHW) that cannot be disposed of in landfills.

According to the EPA, the average household generates more than 20 pounds of HHW 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, the cities of Covington and Florence, and the U.K., Campbell County Cooperative Extension Service. The coalition receives grants annually from the Kentucky Division of Waste Management to conduct Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events. 

The coalition members plan, recruit volunteers, conduct, and evaluate annual HHW collection events. https://boonecountyky.org/nkyhhw/hhw_action_coalition.php is used to educate the community about household hazardous waste and provides collection event details.

1917 NKY residents participated, including 260 people from Campbell County, in the collection event held on Nov. 2, 2024, at the Florence Y’alls baseball stadium in Florence, KY. 

183 volunteers and workers supported the event. The Campbell County Extension Agent for Natural Resources and Environmental Management was able to recruit 14 students from Highland High School (Fort Thomas, KY) to help this year. He also served on the planning committee and that day as a lane leader by managing volunteers and educating participants.

Disposal and recycling vendors (Environmental Enterprises, Inc., and Tri State Escrap) report collecting 182,277 lbs. of HHW:

• 81,922 lbs. electronics 
• 6,968 lbs. cleaners and aerosols 
• 25,694 lbs. paint and adhesives 
• 5,461 lbs. pesticides and poisons 
• 11,760 lbs. batteries
• 31,607 lbs. flammables and fuels 
• 16,488 lbs. propane cylinders and tanks 
• 2,377 lbs. light bulbs 

The Campbell County Cooperative Extension Service has been a sustaining sponsor of this annual event since 2015. The Extension District Board has supported paint and adhesive disposal by contributing a total of $50,000 over the past 10 years.