Online Services
Restaurant Inspection Reports
Septic & Well Permits

Ask the Ottawa County Health Department a confidential question or submit a comment.

Waste Management

Resource Recovery Service Centers

Realizing the need for better management of household hazardous waste within Ottawa County, the Ottawa County Environmental Health Division has opened three Resource Recovery Service Centers throughout the County. Materials that are accepted at the Resource Recovery Service Centers include:

Household Hazardous Waste
Used Motor Oil
Consumer Electronics
Recyclable Materials (Annual membership required for recycling services)

The locations are:

Resource Recovery Service Center - Coopersville Hours: T & Th, 8-1pm, 2-5pm; 1st & 3rd Sat. 8-Noon 15600 68th Avenue Coopersville, MI 49404	Resource Recovery Service Center - Georgetown Hours: T & Th, 8-1pm, 2-5pm; 1st & 3rd Sat. 8-Noon 6693 Roger Drive Jenison, MI 49428
Resource Recovery Service Center - Grand Haven Hours: M & W, 8-1pm, 2-5pm; 2nd & 4th Sat. 8-Noon 16850 Comstock Avenue Grand Haven, MI 49417	Resource Recovery Center-Holland Hours: M & W, 8-1pm, 2-5pm; 2nd Sat. 8-1pm, 2-5pm 14053 Quincy Holland, MI 49424

The Resource Recovery Centers are closed on the following days:

-	Memorial Day Weekend	-	Memorial Day	-	July 4th
-	July 4th Weekend	-	Labor Day Weekend	-	Labor Day
-	Thanksgiving Day	-	Thanksgiving Day Weekend	-	Christmas Eve Afternoon
-	Christmas Day	-	New Year's Eve Afternoon	-	New Year's Day

Household Hazardous Waste Program

Household hazardous wastes (HHW) are leftover, unwanted or unusable household products that contain hazardous ingredients. A household product is considered hazardous if it is toxic (poisonous), flammable, caustic (causes burns), or chemically reactive. For example, oil-based paint, drain cleaners, pool chemicals, some pesticides, hobby supplies, used motor oil, car batteries, and antifreeze contain hazardous ingredients.

Dumping HHW improperly can cause contamination to the environment and may pose a health hazard to you. Some of these items can be reused, others can be recycled, and some of them must be managed as hazardous waste. The Ottawa County Health Department offers free disposal of HHW at any Resource Recovery Center.

For additional information and a list of accepted items download a brochure or call 616-393-5645.

Consumer Electronics

The disposal of consumer electronics is a growing concern within Ottawa County. Computers contain hazardous metals that should not be landfilled or incinerated, and contain precious metals, glass and plastics that should be recycled. Computer equipment can now be recycled at any local Goodwill location through a new computer recycling partnership between Goodwill and Dell. Goodwill will accept all makes of computer equipment for recycling. Your donation helps our local community, supports the recycling partnership, and may be tax deductible. If you cannot visit a Goodwill location, computers and cellular phones are two items that can be brought to any Resource Recovery Service Center for recycling.

If you are recycling a computer that is a Pentium II or higher, please consider calling MacMedia in Holland at (616) 355-3301. They accept and refurbish used computers and provide them to low income families.

Recycling

Environmental responsibility is at an all-time high among residents in Ottawa County. The desire to "do the right thing" and recycle household materials is one way that residents are doing their part to sustain environmental quality. Items such as plastics, newspapers, glass and cardboard are recycled through various companies throughout Ottawa County or at the Resource Recovery Service Centers located in Coopersville, Georgetown, Grand Haven or Holland. By purchasing an annual membership, residents can participate in recycling at any Resource Recovery Service Center . The current cost of an annual membership is $40.00 per year. More information is available on our membership form.

We accept:

Paper including: newspaper, brown paper bags, magazines, catalogs, discarded mail, fliers, paper, cereal boxes (with liner removed) and office paper.
Plastic bottles, jars and jugs made from #1 & 2 HDPE. Please rinse clean and remove lids.
Tin, Steel and aluminum. Please rinse clean , remove labels and discard lids.
Glass-All Colors. Please remove lids and rinse clean.
Corrugated cardboard
Phone books

For additional recycling information call 616-393-5645

Your current waste hauler or the following haulers currently offer curbside recycling programs:

Potluck Pick-up Inc.: 895-6399
Sunset Waste Services: 800-882-9565
Waste Management: 800-538-3750
Priority Arrowaste Service: 748-1955
Everkept Inc.: 669-2047

Used Motor Oil Recycling

Each year, thousands of gallons of used motor oil is produced by do-it-yourself oil changes. Improper management of used oil can have detrimental effects on the environment. Recognizing the need to supply Ottawa County Residents with an avenue to dispose of their motor oil, the Ottawa County Health Department offers free oil recycling for its residents. Residents can recycle used oil for no cost at any Resource Recover Center.

Small Business Hazardous Waste

The Ottawa County Environmental Health Division provides confidential, non-regulatory assistance and referral to industry to properly manage hazardous wastes.

Our Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG) program provides environmentally safe and economical disposal of hazardous waste delivered to our collection facilities on a fee for service basis. A conditionally exempt small quantity generator generates less than 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of hazardous waste in a month and accumulates no more than 1000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) total at a time. CESQG waste accepted by appointment only. Call for more information. 616-393-5645

Guidelines for proper disposal of hazardous waste:

Determine if the waste is hazardous waste. This is done by either knowledge of the hazardous characteristics of the waste or the process used to generate the waste or by testing. Accumulate the waste in an area where it is protected from weather, fire, physical damage, and vandals. The waste must be also be accumulated in a manner that prohibits a release into the soil, ground water, or into drains or sewers. Label the container with the content name; e.g. "Used oil" or "spent antifreeze." Keep each storage container in good condition and replace any leaking ones. Keep the container closed except when adding or removing waste. Avoid over filling the container. Use a container compatible with the type of waste placed in it. Ship hazardous waste to an approved recycling, reclamation or disposal facility.

Sharps Program

The Ottawa County Health Department offers free Home Use-Medical Sharps Containers to ensure safe disposal of syringes.

Residents using syringes to administer medication at home have long faced the concern of how to properly dispose of their sharps, often with little choice but to throw them in the trash. To help prevent risk of injury, infection and pollution, the Ottawa County Health Department is now offering a Home Use-Medical Sharps Container for diabetics injecting insulin or those needing to administer medications at home by injection.

Ottawa County Residents may stop by any Ottawa County Health Office branch to receive a Home Use-Sharps Container, provided free of charge. Once full, participants will be allowed to exchange containers for a new one. The Health Department will dispose of full containers through a licensed medical waste disposal company. Only sharps containers provided by the Ottawa County Health Department will be accepted!

Clean Sweep Program

Clean Sweep is a free, non-regulatory program to help you safely dispose of banned and/or unusable pesticides. The Ottawa County Health Department hosts one of sixteen regional Clean Sweep Pesticide Collection Centers in the State. PESTICIDES DROPPED OFF BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. For additional information or to make an appointment call 616-393-5645

Who can use the program?

Clean Sweep is simple and easy. Any Michigan homeowner, farm, greenhouse, nursery, golf course or other end user of pesticides can use this service. However, dealers or persons who apply pesticides for hire may not use this program.

What can I bring and how much?

Old, unwanted, out-of-date or unusable pesticides can be dropped off for safe disposal. Bring whatever you have.

What's the catch?

There is no catch. Clean Sweep is a good deal for you. There is no red tape and all information is kept strictly confidential. And best of all... Clean Sweep is FREE!!!

Latex Paint Disposal

Unusable latex paint, while not considered hazardous, must be dried prior to disposal. When drying latex paint, always choose an area that is well ventilated, protected from the elements and not accessible to children or pets. For small amounts of paint, simply open the container and allow the contents to air dry.

Larger quantities of latex paint can be more quickly solidified by mixing in an absorbent such as cat litter or floor dry (available at a hardware or automotive store). Mix in enough absorbent until the paint becomes difficult to stir and is no longer liquid. Allow the paint can to dry with the lid off. The container may be placed in the regular trash.

Full, unused cans of paint that have not been frozen, can be donated to Lakeshore Habitat Restore. Please contact them for more information at 616-399-7006.

Mercury

Mercury is a naturally occurring toxic element commonly found in household devices like thermometers and thermostats. Inhalation of mercury vapor can lead to neurological damage in children. When handling mercury containing devices, care should be taken not to break or spill the mercury in the home and ensure the mercury is disposed of properly. Here's how you can help!

As a part of our pollution prevention outreach, the Health Department offers free programs to assist residents and contractors to safely dispose of mercury

Mercury Containing Thermometers

The Ottawa County Health Department offers a Thermometer Exchange program, free for Ottawa County Residents. Residents can bring their mercury containing thermometers to any health department branch and we will give you a free digital thermometer in exchange. There is a limit of one digital thermometer per resident (regardless of the number of mercury thermometers that are brought in).

Mercury Containing Devices and Elemental Mercury

Schools, homes and businesses may have mercury containing devices such as barometers, thermometers, sphygmomanometers, mercury switches and elemental mercury. Please call 616-494-5569 for instruction on proper handling of mercury and to arrange for free disposal.

Collection Schedule

There are no additional Collections Scheduled

Appliance Disposal

Disposal of "white goods" is a concern within Ottawa County. Appliances such as washers, dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers and freezers need to be disposed of properly. Although the Ottawa County Health Department does not offer any disposal programs to assist residents with the disposal of "white goods" there are other environmentally responsible options.

Residents can call the following number for information about disposing of their appliances: Black River Recycling & Supply: 616-396-8587

Prescription and Over the Counter Drug Disposal

The issue of proper pharmaceutical drug disposal is an emerging issue in the environmental arena. All medications applied externally or ingested have the potential to be excreted or washed into sewage systems and from there discharged to the aquatic or terrestrial environments. The risks posed to aquatic organisms by continual life-long exposure and to humans by long-term consumption of minute quantities in drinking water are essentially unknown.

How do you dispose of your outdated or unwanted medications? Ottawa County residents are encouraged to safely dispose of their medications in their own curbside trash. The following guidelines outline how medications need to be packaged to ensure safe disposal:

Keep the medications in their original containers since the labels may contain safety information, the container is chemically compatible, and the caps are typically water tight and child proof. Add a small amount of water to the solid drug or some absorbent material such as kitty litter, sawdust or flour to liquid drugs before recapping. These measures are intended to discourage any unintended use of the drug. Double enclose the contained drugs in a bag or any other waste container to prevent immediate identification of a drug container or prevent a glass drug container from breaking during the disposal process.