State environmental grant to help build a HazToGo store in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — A $1.3 million state grant to expand Lincoln’s HazToGo operation will help establish an onsite store that offers usable household products to the public at no cost.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department on Friday offered more detail on how it plans to use the grant, which was part of a slate of 23 approved in January by the Nebraska Environmental Trust Board. The grant funds comes from state lottery proceeds.

The new “reuse initiative” also is expected to reduce the cost of waste disposal and landfill use.

Already, the HazToGo operation at Lincoln’s Waste Center, 5101 N. 48th St., offers services to residents and small businesses that include weekly drive-through household hazardous waste collections, said Brock Hanisch, the health department’s environmental health supervisor.

He said the new reuse program and store will provide “convenient and safe access to usable products, help further protect the public’s health and environment and reduce waste disposal costs.” 

It will work this way: Staff members will inspect household products brought to HazToGo, and items still in their original containers that can be safely used will be routed to the onsite store. Examples would be partially used or unopened containers of automotive fluids, home cleaning products, oil-based paint and stains.

“Household hazardous waste facilities that have incorporated reuse have seen a 10% or more increase of collected material diverted from the landfill, decreasing the cost of waste disposal,” Hanisch said. “This expansion is the next logical step to enhancing sustainable waste management within the community.”

Hanisch said construction bids will be requested after the store addition is designed.

The household hazardous waste program is partially funded by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy.

The HazToGo facility opened in 2017. Officials report that an average of 125,000 pounds of household hazardous waste were diverted from Lincoln’s landfill in 2021-2022.

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