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Joe Hoffman
WSDA Waste Pesticide Program

A WSDA employee holds a can of DDT,
collected at a waste pesticide disposal event. 

If you have agricultural or commercial-grade pesticides you want to be rid of, WSDA has a program for you! WSDA’s Waste Pesticide Program provides a free public service collecting unwanted pesticides from farmers, businesses, and public agencies.

Waste pesticide collection events are scheduled in May in four cities in Eastern Washington. If you want to participate, you’ll need to submit in advance an inventory of the products you want disposed. But hurry, deadlines to submit are fast approaching, especially for the first two events.  

Collection site | Inventory due | Event date
Yakima                    April 12              May 8
Prosser                   April 12              May 10
Wenatchee             April 26              May 31

Once you’ve submitted your inventory list, we’ll contact you with details about the exact collection location and time, and what to expect. 

Storage drums holding waste pesticides at a collection event.

Waste pesticide collection events smoothly transfer waste product from pickup trucks and cars to large semis, with trained professionals recording the pesticide container and carefully repackaging it for its long trek to disposal. 

Begun in 1988, the Waste Pesticide Program has collected and properly disposed of more than 3.3 million pounds of waste pesticides from more than 8,250 customers. 

The program aims to reduce the amount of unusable pesticides and prevent currently used pesticides from becoming waste through education and specialized technical assistance. If old pesticides aren’t collected properly, their aging, potentially compromised containers can leak hazardous chemicals into surrounding soil and water.

For more details and instructions on how to submit an inventory, see the program’s webpage or you may email WastePesticide@agr.wa.gov, or call 1-877-301-4555.

UPDATE (5/18/18) - The collection event in Okanogan, scheduled for May 30, has been CANCELLED due to flooding in the area. This collection will be rescheduled at a later date.