Keep Cobb Beautiful is organizing its annual Household Hazardous Waste Event on October 18, 2025. The event will take place at Jim Miller Park in Marietta from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., allowing residents to drop off items such as paint, cleaning products, insecticides, gasoline, and fire extinguishers.
Participants are not permitted to take any materials once they have been dropped off. According to event organizers, “Once materials are dropped off, they become the property of the hazardous waste contractor. For safety reasons, the public is not allowed to take these items, which may be hazardous or improperly labeled.”
The event is held annually due to costs associated with safe disposal and recycling. Organizers explained that “Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) events are very costly for the County to provide free to residents. Each item dropped off requires safe and responsible recycling or disposal.” There are plans for a Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials facility in Cobb County that would allow year-round drop-offs by appointment.
Registration for the event provides participants with a recommended arrival time but does not guarantee an exact appointment slot. Organizers stated that “Registration provides you with a recommended arrival time, not an exact appointment. HHW events are very popular. Assigning arrival times helps spread out traffic and avoid long backups at the site.”
While registration checks may occur if necessary, it is not mandatory for every vehicle in order to keep lines moving efficiently. “We reserve the right to check registration if the system is abused. However, doing so for every vehicle would slow down the line, create additional strain on volunteers, and complicate logistics,” according to organizers.
Participation is limited to Cobb County residents only. “HHW and Community Recycling events are free for residents of Cobb County,” event officials noted.
Residents must register in advance as space is limited based on vendor capacity. If registration fills up before October 18, interested individuals can check future opportunities on the Keep Cobb Beautiful website.
The organization also provided information about upcoming recycling initiatives: Medication Disposal Day will occur on October 25 at multiple locations; another Community Recycling Event offering electronics and plastics collection as well as paper shredding will be held November 8.
Cobb County’s population includes a diverse student body in its schools; enrollment increased slightly by less than 0.1% during the 2022-23 school year compared with the previous year (https://www.gadoe.org/). In total, there were 115,076 students enrolled during this period (https://www.gadoe.org/), with white students making up about one-third of all students (https://www.gadoe.org/).
A full list of accepted hazardous waste items can be found at keepcobbbeautiful.org.
