Guide · 6 min read · updated 2026-09-17

Paint and household hazardous waste: what we will not take, and where it actually goes

Paint, solvents, oil, pool chemicals, propane and batteries: why no junk hauler can take them in a load, and the free drop-offs in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties.

The short answer

Paint, solvents, motor oil, pesticides, pool chemicals, fluorescent tubes, car batteries and propane are household hazardous waste. We do not take them. No honest hauler does, because no landfill gate will accept them in a mixed load.

They still have a free home:

Paint: any PaintCare drop-off site, usually a paint or hardware store, at no charge.
Everything else in San Joaquin County: the county Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 7850 R.A. Bridgeford Street, Stockton, open Thursday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m..
Sacramento County residents: the Kiefer Landfill ABOP & Special Waste drop-off, open Tuesday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at no fee for residents.

When we find these on a job we set them aside, tell you what they are, and tell you exactly where they go. That is the whole policy.

Why a hauler cannot take it

The landfill scale houses in this area do not take hazardous waste in a load. North County's price sheet names hazardous waste, toxic materials, liquid waste and drums over five gallons among the things it will not take. A load with a can of solvent in it is a load that can be turned away at the scale, or worse, a load that should have been turned away and was not.

Our standard list of what we will not take reads: paint, solvents, motor oil and household hazardous waste; asbestos and anything containing it; medical or biohazard waste; ammunition and explosives; fuel, propane tanks and batteries. None of that is a sales tactic. It is the list of things that do not legally belong in a truck headed for a landfill.

Any hauler who says "sure, we'll take the paint" is either sorting it out and driving it to the HHW facility themselves — ask them — or putting it where you would not want your name attached.

Paint: the PaintCare program

California's Architectural Paint Recovery Program (Public Resources Code §§48700–48707) has run through the industry group PaintCare since October 2012. You pay a small fee on every can of paint you buy, and that fee funds free drop-off.

PaintCare accepts house paint, primers, stains, sealers and clear coatings such as shellac and varnish. There is no charge to drop off at a PaintCare site. If you have 100 gallons or more — a painting contractor's storage, an estate with a garage wall of cans — PaintCare offers a free large-volume pickup.

Paint thinner and solvents are not paint; take them to the county HHW facility. For anything in between, check PaintCare's product list before you drive.

San Joaquin County: the HHW facility

The San Joaquin County Household Hazardous Waste Facility is at 7850 R.A. Bridgeford Street in Stockton. It is open Thursday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and closed on Easter Sunday, July 4, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Questions go to (209) 468-3066.

The rules that matter before you load a car:

Limit: 15 gallons or 125 pounds per trip (up to 55 gallons of used motor oil).
Businesses: small-business waste by appointment only.
Not accepted: explosives, ammunition, radioactive material, medical waste, controlled substances, solar panels, refrigerating units, air conditioners, tires, large appliances, gas-powered tools and large compressed gas cylinders.

That last list surprises people. Refrigerators, air conditioners, tires and large appliances do not go to the HHW facility — they go to the landfill scale house. See the refrigerator guide and the tire guide.

North County Landfill also takes a short list of these items from residents: up to 9 fluorescent tubes, household batteries, small electronics and car batteries per trip, plus up to 12 used oil filters and household cooking oil. Useful if you are already going to the landfill with a load.

Sacramento County: Kiefer and NARS

Kiefer Landfill runs a drop-off for antifreeze, batteries, oil, paint and special waste. It is open Tuesday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., for Sacramento County residents at no fee; businesses by appointment. The North Area Recovery Station also runs a household hazardous waste drop-off; check the county's current hours before you go.

If you live in Galt, Elk Grove, Wilton or anywhere else in south Sacramento County, Kiefer is usually the closer of the two.

Packing it for the drive

Hazardous waste in a car is its own small hazard. A few habits make the trip safe.

Leave it in the original container with the label on. Unlabeled jars slow down intake and may be refused.
Never mix products to consolidate them. Bleach and ammonia, or pool chlorine and almost anything, make toxic gas.
Box it upright in the trunk or truck bed, not the passenger compartment, and wedge it so nothing tips.
Tape the terminals of loose batteries.
Propane cylinders: the San Joaquin County facility lists large compressed gas cylinders on its not-accepted list. A barbecue-size tank can often be exchanged or refilled at a retailer; call the facility before you bring one.

What happens on our jobs

On a garage cleanout, paint and chemicals are the most common thing we set aside. On an estate cleanout, it is usually a lifetime of half-empty cans on a back wall. Either way, we leave it in one spot, labeled, with a note on where each type goes.

If you want it handled for you, that is a separate job from the junk removal. On a foreclosure trash-out, for example, hazardous waste is bid separately through a licensed handler. We will tell you that up front rather than find it on the invoice.

Asbestos is its own category. Asbestos-containing material requires a licensed abatement contractor, and we will tell you who to call rather than touch it.

What on the garage shelf counts

Most garages hold more household hazardous waste than people think. Here is what to pull off the shelf before anyone starts loading, and where each group goes.

Paint, primer, stain, varnish, sealer: PaintCare drop-off.
Paint thinner, mineral spirits, solvents, adhesives: county HHW facility.
Motor oil and antifreeze: county HHW facility, or the Kiefer ABOP drop-off in Sacramento County. North County takes up to 12 used oil filters.
Brake and transmission fluid: county HHW facility.
Car batteries and household batteries: HHW facility, Kiefer ABOP, or North County's U-waste line for residents.
Pesticides, herbicides, rat poison, pool chemicals: county HHW facility. Keep pool chlorine away from everything else in the car.
Fluorescent tubes and CFL bulbs: HHW facility, or North County's U-waste line.
Gasoline and other fuels: county HHW facility, in an approved container. Never in a junk load.
Propane cylinders: call first; see the packing notes below.

Anything unlabeled goes in its own box, marked "unknown," and gets asked about at intake. Do not open it to find out.

When there is a lot of it

The county limit is built for a household trip: 15 gallons or 125 pounds per trip (up to 55 gallons of used motor oil). An estate garage or a long-accumulated house can hold many times that, and the limit does not bend because the job is big.

Plan it as several trips instead of one overloaded car. Sort by type first — paint in one set of boxes, automotive fluids in another, garden chemicals in a third — because paint can go to a PaintCare site and does not need to count against your HHW trips at all. If the paint alone runs past 100 gallons, PaintCare's free large-volume pickup is the better route.

In a hoarding cleanup, chemicals are often buried under everything else and the containers may be damaged or unlabeled. We stop, set them aside in one place, and tell you what we found before the clear continues. Anything leaking or unidentifiable is a job for a licensed hazardous waste handler, and we will say so rather than guess.

Quick answers

Can I dry out latex paint and throw it away? Rules vary by city and change. The free PaintCare drop-off is the answer that is always correct.

What about medications and sharps? Neither belongs in a junk load. The San Joaquin County facility lists medical waste and controlled substances as not accepted, so use a pharmacy take-back for medication.

Is motor oil free to drop off? Residents may bring up to 55 gallons of used motor oil per trip to the San Joaquin County facility, which is the one exception to its 15-gallon limit.

Where do the other gates fit in? Rates, hours and what each accepts are in every gate and every rate for 2026.

Sources

Every fee above is read from the operator's own published sheet and shown with its effective date. Rates change; call the gate before you load a truck around a number.

San Joaquin County Household Hazardous Waste Facility — read 2026-09-17
PaintCare — California program (accepted products, free drop-off, 100+ gallon pickup, PRC §§48700–48707) — read 2026-09-17
California Public Resources Code §48701 — Architectural Paint Recovery Program definitions — read 2026-09-17
San Joaquin County — North County Recycling Center & Sanitary Landfill price sheet, effective 2026-01-01 — read 2026-09-17
Sacramento County — Kiefer Landfill fees, effective 2026-01-01 — read 2026-09-17