Pesticide Disposal

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture’s (ISDA) Pesticide Disposal Program recently achieved a milestone with the safe collection and proper disposal of 2 million pounds of unusable pesticides since the inception of the program in 1993. The ISDA disposed of just over 131,000 pounds of unusable pesticides in 2016 alone.

 

“Pesticides become unusable for many reasons, including loss of potency, exposure to temperature extremes, cancellation or suspension by state or federal authorities, or growers’ decisions to change their cropping rotations or practices,” said Victor Mason II, manager of ISDA’s Pesticide Disposal Program (PDP). “It’s nice to know that individuals have a means to properly dispose of unusable or unwanted pesticides.”

 

About ISDA’s Pesticide Disposal Program

The Idaho State Department of Agriculture collects unusable pesticide at various locations throughout the state. The collections are designed to provide farmers, dealers, applicators and homeowners a way to dispose of unusable pesticides in a safe and legal manner at no cost to the participant.

 

The ISDA holds spring pesticide disposal collections in May from the Treasure Valley to northern Idaho. Fall collections cover eastern Idaho, the Magic Valley and Nampa. Customers can take their unusable pesticides to collection sites where the products are unloaded by highly trained personnel. After packing, the pesticides are delivered to an incinerator approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where they are destroyed in a safe and environmentally sound manner.  Pesticides include herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides – products with a “cide” suffix. The PDP is not able to accept fertilizers, micronutrients, paints, solvents or motor oils at these collections.