MISSOULA — Ever since Missoula's Household Chemical Disposal opened in 2024, it's been seeing heavy use and reuse.
“Now that I think we have more publicity, people know that we're here, it's getting a lot busier,” said Kelsie Alling, environmental health specialist for Missoula Public Health.
Alling says that in 2025, they shipped out over 1,000 gallons and 2,000 products for disposal. The shipments are first sent to handling centers in places like Spokane before being shipped to Utah for incineration.
Products the drop-off receives range from transmission fluid to paint, alongside other oddities, like 5 gallons of hand soap, which will be sent to the Poverello Center.
That soap being sent to the Poverello Center is just a small fraction of what the drop-off can return to the community.
“Just in 2026 so far, we put back into reuse over a thousand products and over 275 gallons. So that's about 29% of products that come into the facility are going back into the community for reuse,” said Alling.
Many of the reusable products are sent to places like HomeResource and automotive programs in Missoula, as well as community members coming to take the odds and ends when they need them.
You can drop off your waste at the site on Wyoming, but the drop-off hours this year have changed. They're now open every Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment only.
You can schedule an appointment on HomeResource’s website.
