Can I throw it away?
Pick the item and your state. You get that state's rule in one line, the agency page it was read from, the date it was checked, and where the state says to take the thing.
What the four answers mean
Every cell behind this tool was read off the state environmental agency's own page for that item and stamped with the date it was read. The answer is one of four things, and the fourth is an answer too.
- Trash — the agency states household trash is acceptable statewide, sometimes with a preparation step the rule line names.
- Recycle — the agency states a statewide recycling route or a take-back that is recycling.
- Special drop-off — a statewide landfill ban, a household hazardous waste designation, or a stewardship program takes it instead.
- No statewide rule — the state has none, or its own material sends you to your county. Nothing lights, because nothing statewide applies; the county link is the answer.
What this tool will not do
It will not answer for a state whose cell has not been read yet, and it will not borrow an answer from the state next door. Where two readers disagreed about a page, the cell sits in review and this tool says so rather than picking one. And it stops at the state line on purpose: the bin at your curb is a county decision, which is why every result ends with the county line and the state's own finder.
New to the phrase household hazardous waste? What it means, and why your state sets the rule.