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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) – The City of Huntsville collected hazardous waste in Owens Crossroads Saturday morning.

The drive-thru event allowed visitors to quickly drop off paint, household chemicals, old electronics and automotive products.

Some paint is mixed up and then donated to habitat for humanity. Old electronics are shredded, and batteries are recycled through a third party.

Andrew Wilson, the facility manager for the Solid Waste Disposal Authority (SWDA), emphasizes that lithium batteries are a fire hazard and should never be thrown out with the rest of your garbage. He adds that it’s important to dispose of hazardous waste the right way because we need to protect our environment.

“You’ve got a lot of your old insecticides, pesticides, herbicides – and toxic materials is what we’re trying to get out of our waste streams,” Wilson said. “We want to try to prevent these things from getting into our local groundwater.”

The SWDA has a hazardous waste disposal facility at this address: 1055 A Cleaner Way, Huntsville, AL 35805

SDWA will hold another household waste drop-off at Hays Nature Preserve on Earth Day — April 22nd.

And in the meantime, you can take any hazardous materials to SWDA in Huntsville, anytime Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.