Contents
- Household hazardous waste collection statistics: Illinois program reach and historical event totals
- Household hazardous waste collection statistics: collected materials and treatment methods
- Household hazardous waste collection statistics: participation by event and target area
- Household hazardous waste collection statistics: Illinois seasonal event trends
- Household hazardous waste collection statistics: reported collection costs
- household hazardous waste collection: Pennsylvania household hazardous waste program participation and tonnage
- Sources
Household hazardous waste collection statistics: Illinois program reach and historical event totals
Illinois EPA’s household hazardous waste collection history begins with an event in November 1989. On the agency page as displayed on November 11, 2026, the cumulative counters showed 401,350 households participating in 449 events and more than 78,100 drums of material collected. The page does not state the exact date through which those counters were counted, so they describe figures displayed there, not a defined annual total or a complete 2026 tally. Illinois EPA: Household Hazardous Wastes
A separate Illinois EPA report covers 71 agency-sponsored, one-day collections during state fiscal years (SFY) 1999–2002. Those events served 70,776 households and generated more than 14,577 55-gallon drums of toxic household hazardous waste, according to its executive summary. The report’s period is specific; the page counters span a longer history with an unspecified endpoint. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, SFY 1999–2002
| Illinois measure | Reported figure | Time scope |
|---|---|---|
| Households participating | 401,350 | Cumulative page counter; precise endpoint not given |
| Events | 449 | Cumulative page counter; precise endpoint not given |
| Material collected | More than 78,100 drums | Cumulative page counter; precise endpoint not given |
| Households served | 70,776 | One-day events in SFY 1999–2002 |
| Waste collected | More than 14,577 55-gallon drums | One-day events in SFY 1999–2002 |
These measures should be read alongside their scopes. The cumulative page counters begin with the November 1989 collection, while the report counts a four-fiscal-year set of one-day events. The drum figures are thresholds (“more than”), not exact quantities. Neither source supplies a basis for converting the two scopes into a like-for-like annual trend. Illinois EPA: Household Hazardous Wastes; Illinois EPA: Collection Results, SFY 1999–2002
Household hazardous waste collection statistics: collected materials and treatment methods
Illinois EPA Table 3 reports material quantities from its one-day collections across SFY 1999–2002 in 55-gallon drums. Paints, adhesives and sealers, and poisons and pesticides were among the largest listed categories. These are category-level volumes expressed in drum units, not counts of products or households. The table also assigns disposal-method labels to several categories. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Table 3
| Material | Quantity (55-gallon drums) | Listed disposal method |
|---|---|---|
| Paints | 3,453.27 | Fuel blended/recycled |
| Flammable solvents | 975.06 | Fuel blended/incinerated |
| Adhesives and sealers | 2,987.47 | Incinerated |
| Corrosives | 409.48 | Aqueous treatment |
| Poisons and pesticides | 2,678.43 | Incinerated |
| Oils | 1,833.02 | Fuel blended/recycled |
| Antifreeze | 304.26 | Recycled |
| Oxidizers | 282.23 | Treated/incinerated |
| Aerosols | 1,048.60 | Incinerated |
| Household batteries | 91.60 | Not listed |
| Fluorescent bulbs | 229.22 | Not listed |
| Asbestos | 91.05 | Not listed |
| Others | 194.02 | Not listed |
The quantities provide a detailed view of the reported collection stream. Paints account for 3,453.27 drums, adhesives and sealers for 2,987.47, and poisons and pesticides for 2,678.43. Oils account for 1,833.02 drums and aerosols for 1,048.60. Flammable solvents are listed at 975.06 drums, corrosives at 409.48, antifreeze at 304.26, and oxidizers at 282.23. Smaller quantities in the table include 229.22 drums of fluorescent bulbs, 91.60 of household batteries, 91.05 of asbestos, and 194.02 in the “Others” category. The table does not make these amounts per-household figures. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Table 3
The method labels indicate the routes recorded in the report: paints and oils are listed as fuel blended or recycled; flammable solvents as fuel blended or incinerated; adhesives and sealers, poisons and pesticides, and aerosols as incinerated. Corrosives are listed for aqueous treatment, antifreeze for recycling, and oxidizers as treated or incinerated. For household batteries, fluorescent bulbs, asbestos, and “Others,” the table gives quantities but no disposal-method entry. Those unlisted entries are left unspecified here. The labels do not quantify the share of a category receiving each named route. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Table 3
The figures use a common drum unit across the listed categories, but they represent diverse materials and handling labels. A single aggregate drum count would obscure that variation. At the same time, the report does not provide additional breakdowns here to show how quantities were divided among the disposal routes or how the mix changed from one fiscal year to another. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Table 3
Household hazardous waste collection statistics: participation by event and target area
The 71 Illinois EPA-sponsored one-day events during SFY 1999–2002 served 70,776 households. That is a household count for the report period, while the participation-rate section separately describes the share of eligible households in event target areas. The report says target-area rates ranged from 0.24% to 51.53%; its summary sentence presenting that range does not specify the denominator in the same detail. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Executive Summary and “Participation Rates”
| Participation measure | Reported result | Scope or definition |
|---|---|---|
| Collections | 71 | Illinois EPA-sponsored, one-day events in SFY 1999–2002 |
| Households served | 70,776 | Those one-day events |
| Range of participation rates | 0.24%–51.53% | Target areas; denominator not specified in the summary sentence |
| Average participation rate | 2.42% | Eligible households in target areas |
The 2.42% average has a stated denominator: eligible households in target areas. It is not a percentage of all Illinois households. The reported range and average describe different aspects of participation, and the average should not be treated as the midpoint of that range. The report does not explain why target-area rates differed, and the figures do not establish a rate for later years or for the whole state. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, “Participation Rates”
The household count and rate also answer different questions. The 70,776 count describes households served by the four-year set of events; the 2.42% rate relates participation to eligible households in target areas. Without a denominator, the count alone cannot be interpreted as a statewide participation percentage. Preserving these distinctions makes the event totals useful without expanding their meaning beyond the report’s stated scope. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Executive Summary and “Participation Rates”
Household hazardous waste collection statistics: Illinois seasonal event trends
Table 1 in the Illinois report lists events and participating households by fiscal-year season. Across the eight displayed rows, event counts range from 3 to 17 and participating-household counts from 3,528 to 13,460. Both measures are seasonal totals, so the table does not show attendance at each individual event or whether a household returned in a later season. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Table 1
| Fiscal-year season | HHW events | Participating households |
|---|---|---|
| FY 99 Fall | 3 | 3,528 |
| FY 99 Spring | 4 | 7,597 |
| FY 00 Fall | 4 | 7,344 |
| FY 00 Spring | 4 | 5,933 |
| FY 01 Fall | 10 | 10,066 |
| FY 01 Spring | 12 | 12,174 |
| FY 02 Fall | 17 | 10,674 |
| FY 02 Spring | 17 | 13,460 |
The seasonal record shows that the program held more events in the later fiscal-year rows shown: 3 in FY 99 Fall and 4 in FY 99 Spring, versus 17 in each FY 02 season. Household participation did not rise in lockstep with event counts across every row. FY 02 Spring had 13,460 participating households, the largest seasonal count shown, while FY 02 Fall had 10,674 despite the same 17 events. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Table 1
Spring did not consistently exceed fall in the earlier comparisons. FY 99 Spring recorded 7,597 households across 4 events, compared with 3,528 across 3 fall events. In FY 00, fall recorded 7,344 households across 4 events, above spring’s 5,933 across 4 events. In FY 01, spring recorded 12,174 households and 12 events, while fall recorded 10,066 households and 10 events. These are reported totals, not evidence of a seasonal cause or of a consistent relationship between season and turnout. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Table 1
Household hazardous waste collection statistics: reported collection costs
The Illinois report presents contractor event costs, a per-household average, an average-per-collection figure, and yearly program costs. They are distinct measures. Table 1’s contractor event-cost total for SFY 1999–2002 is $4,977,364.77, and its average cost per participating household is $70.33. The report says contractor event costs exclude Illinois EPA administration and local co-sponsor costs for publicity, traffic control, and volunteers. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Table 1 and “Program Costs”
| Cost measure | Reported amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Contractor event costs | $4,977,364.77 | SFY 1999–2002 total; exclusions described above |
| Average cost per participating household | $70.33 | Table 1, SFY 1999–2002 totals |
| Average cost per collection | $70,478.35 | Executive Summary figure |
| Program costs, SFY 1999 | $477,551 | Reported fiscal-year amount |
| Program costs, SFY 2000 | $1,041,638 | Reported fiscal-year amount |
| Program costs, SFY 2001 | $1,561,698 | Reported fiscal-year amount |
| Program costs, SFY 2002 | $1,896,478 | Reported fiscal-year amount |
The Executive Summary reports an average of $70,478.35 per collection. It is retained as the report’s stated figure rather than replaced with a calculation from the event-cost total. The per-household amount answers a different question and uses participating households as its basis. These two averages should not be confused with the yearly program-cost entries. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, Executive Summary and Table 1
The listed program costs rise across the historical fiscal years in the report: $477,551 in SFY 1999, $1,041,638 in SFY 2000, $1,561,698 in SFY 2001, and $1,896,478 in SFY 2002. The report provides these as program-cost figures, separate from the contractor event-cost total. No price-adjusted series is supplied, so the dollar amounts describe the historical report period and are not present-day cost estimates. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, “Program Costs”
household hazardous waste collection: Pennsylvania household hazardous waste program participation and tonnage
Pennsylvania DEP’s displayed table reports citizen participants and tons collected by fiscal year. The source label “Citizen Participants” is preserved: it does not identify these counts as households or as unique residents. The tonnage column is in tons, unlike Illinois Table 3’s 55-gallon drum unit, so the two states’ figures are not directly interchangeable. Pennsylvania DEP: Household Hazardous Waste Reports
| Fiscal year | Citizen participants | Tons collected |
|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017 | 120,990 | 4,389 |
| 2017–2018 | 113,874 | 4,329 |
| 2018–2019 | 114,462 | 5,194 |
| 2019–2020 | 104,152 | 4,368 |
| 2020–2021 | 44,008 | 2,294 |
Within the five displayed rows, Pennsylvania’s largest participant count is 120,990 in FY 2016–2017. The next rows show 113,874 participants in FY 2017–2018, 114,462 in FY 2018–2019, and 104,152 in FY 2019–2020. The newest displayed year, FY 2020–2021, records 44,008 citizen participants. The source reports fiscal years, not calendar years. Pennsylvania DEP: Household Hazardous Waste Reports
Tonnage follows a different pattern across the same rows. The table lists 4,389 tons in FY 2016–2017, 4,329 in FY 2017–2018, 5,194 in FY 2018–2019, 4,368 in FY 2019–2020, and 2,294 in FY 2020–2021. The largest listed tonnage, 5,194 tons, occurs in FY 2018–2019, not in the year with the highest participant count. The lower figures in FY 2020–2021 are reported values; the table does not explain why they differ from the preceding year. Pennsylvania DEP: Household Hazardous Waste Reports
Pennsylvania’s citizen-participant counts and Illinois’ household counts have different labels and scopes. Illinois’ historical event report covers one-day collections and gives 55-gallon drums, while Pennsylvania’s displayed table reports program participants and tons. Without compatible definitions and units, the figures do not support direct state rankings or per-participant comparisons. Illinois EPA: Collection Results, SFY 1999–2002; Pennsylvania DEP: Household Hazardous Waste Reports