Extension to hold free pesticide collection day

Published 9:47 am Thursday, March 7, 2024

Do you have pesticides at your home or farm that you no longer need or use? 

If your answer is ‘yes’, then you’ll be interested in the Beaufort County Pesticide Collection Day on Tuesday, March 12. 

The Beaufort County Extension Office, in cooperation with the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program, a non-regulatory and cost-free program, will be offering this Pesticide Collection Day for residents in Beaufort County and all of the surrounding North Carolina counties. 

County Agricultural Extension Agent Rod Gurganus will be the local contact for the event. The collection will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Beaufort County Extension office, located at 155 Airport Road in Washington.

Nearly all pesticide products will be accepted at this amnesty collection event, including banned and out-dated pesticides. For pesticides with unreadable or missing labels, please contact the Beaufort County Extension Office at 946-0111 for instructions.  Please save any portion of the label to help identify the material so you can be assisted with disposal. Unknown materials cannot be accepted.  

For pressurized pesticide gas cylinders or containers greater than 5 gallons in size, please contact the Extension Office before the Collection Day for special instructions and information. For tips on transporting the pesticides safely to the collection event, contact the Extension Office.

Each year the Pesticide Disposal Assistance Program (www.ncagr.com/PDAP) visits between 40-50 counties to collect unwanted and unused pesticides through this non-regulatory amnesty program. This means that a collection say of this kind only happens about once every other year in each county.

Don’t miss this pesticide collection opportunity in Beaufort County co-sponsored by NCDA&CS and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service. For more information contact Rod Gurganus, Beaufort County Agricultural Extension Agent at 252-946-0111.