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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality estimates that each Texas household produces 15 to 22 pounds of
household hazardous waste each year. This means about 60,000 tons annually statewide. Household hazardous wastes, such as pesticides, insecticides, household cleaners, other chemicals, motor
oil, and batteries, though hazardous in character, are not regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. Under the act's regulations, household hazardous waste is not
included in the definition of hazardous waste. Because such waste is generated in a household, by a consumer, the EPA considers it part of the municipal solid waste stream. For the same
reason, household hazardous waste is not regulated by the Texas Solid Waste Disposal Act's Industrial Solid Waste and Municipal Hazardous Waste provisions. Most of these hazardous materials
are buried in landfills.* By weight, household hazardous waste makes up about one percent of the total municipal solid waste stream. Waste management professionals' preferred methods of dealing with household hazardous materials are source reduction, reuse, recycling, or proper disposal. At this time, lead-acid batteries and used oil and oil filters are the only household hazardous waste that cannot be disposed of in municipal landfills.
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