Hazardous Waste & Water Quality
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Hazardous Waste & Water Quality Program is protecting our drinking water supply, an unconfined sole-source aquifer, through public education and regional collection programs of hazardous materials.
Cape Cod’s HHW Collections Keep Our Families, Environment and First Responders Safe.
Find out how our Barnstable County HHW Collections keep Cape Cod’s drinking water safe.
Find out how your participation in Barnstable County’s household hazardous waste collections keep our area’s solid waste and recycling programs effective and safe.
Hazardous Waste Collections Schedule
Find your town’s brochure, schedule, and small business disposal options here.
How do I get rid of?
Info on the safe disposal of sharps, flares, liquid mercury, and unwanted medications.
Waste Reduction and Recycling
Solutions to reduce trash and increase recycling.
Water Quality & Well Water
Facts sheets, information, and advice for safe drinking water.
We know it’s not easy determining which household products can be disposed of in your regular trash and what is hazardous. We’ll help you identify responsible and convenient disposal options to prevent potential harm to the environment and your home. It’s important to keep your household safe with hazard mitigation. What is hazard mitigation? Hazard mitigation is taking action to reduce the loss of life and the damage to property, infrastructure, natural, cultural, and economic resources when faced with disaster. Click here for our brochure on hazard mitigation tips to protect your property from floods, storms, and other disasters.
Small businesses needing to dispose of hazardous waste are encouraged to participate at any collection scheduled throughout Cape Cod.
Barnstable County coordinates a regional collection program in collaboration with individual municipalities. Should you require additional disposal services, you can participate, at cost, through any town’s scheduled collection.
It’s important to keep your business safe with hazard mitigation. What is hazard mitigation? Hazard mitigation is taking action to reduce the loss of life and the damage to property, infrastructure, natural, cultural, and economic resources when faced with disaster. Click here for our brochure on hazard mitigation tips to protect your business from floods, storms, and other disasters.
What Small Businesses Need to Know
- Registration is required. Call at least 2 weeks ahead of collection date to register and discuss the type and quantities of materials you plan to bring. (Note: Barnstable County’s contractor cannot accept acutely hazardous materials). Upon registration, we will send you a bill of lading and the fee for disposing materials.
- Disposal fees are the same as the cost paid by the town. No additional fees or markups are added.
Links to Additional Information
Cape Cod Cooperative Extension administers several regional hazardous waste programs free to municipalities:
- Sharps: Barnstable County delivers sharps containers, and pays for the pickup of full boxes of used sharps.
- Mercury: Barnstable County picks up and disposes of mercury-containing products.
- Flares: Barnstable County picks up and disposes of used and expired marine and road flares.
Visit the Northeast Resource Recovery Association for more information about recycling and competitive pricing.
It’s important to keep your community safe with hazard mitigation. What is hazard mitigation? Hazard mitigation is taking action to reduce the loss of life and the damage to property, infrastructure, natural, cultural, and economic resources when faced with disaster. Click here for our brochure on hazard mitigation tips on grant fundable opportunities and ways to protect your community from floods, storms, and other disasters.
Cape Cod GroundWater Guardians and WetFest
Cape Cod Groundwater Guardians is a collaboration of Cape Cod professionals working to engage residents, visitors, and fans of Cape Cod in making clean water available for everyone. Our mission is to raise awareness of our unconfined, sole-source aquifer and Cape Cod’s community connection through water. We do this through a number of educational projects, including management of WetFest, support various groundwater awareness activities, and weekly podcast.
Make a Splash with Wet Festivals to promote awareness of and increased knowledge about the Cape’s aquifer and drinking water resources. WetFest educates students about water in fun, interactive environments and offer alternative learning opportunities including structured learning stations and exhibits where students engage in hands-on water activities and investigations.
To learn more about WetFest and groundwater awareness please visit us at Cape Cod Groundwater Guardians.
Presentations, links, and reading materials related to Barnstable County’s Hidden Hazards in the Art Studio initiative, sponsored by the Barnstable County Hazardous Waste, Water Quality, and Recycling Program.
One Drop Leads to Another Podcast
Cape Cod Groundwater Guardians
Send an Email
508-375-6699 
