Essex County is hosting a hazardous waste collection day today, Saturday, Oct. 13 at its fleet maintenance facility, 99 West Bradford Ave., Cedar Grove. The event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Materials being collected at the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day include pesticides and herbicides, paint thinners and solvents, oil-based paint, chemistry sets, barbecue propane tanks, pool chemicals, photo developing chemicals, 9-volt and NiCad batteries, fluorescent light bulbs and ballasts, products that contain mercury, car batteries, home fire extinguishers, aerosol spray paint and automotive fluids.

Items NOT being collected include latex paint, unlabeled or unidentifiable materials, asbestos, AA, AAA, C and D household batteries, regulated medical waste or infectious waste, commercial or industrial waste, empty containers, explosives, munitions, ordinance or reactive materials.

The Essex County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day is for Essex County residents only. Residents are not charged when they bring materials, but they must provide proof of residency at the site. Commercial businesses may not drop off materials.

The Essex County Utilities Authority provides two hazardous waste collections and two electronics collections per year. In 2011 the Utilities Authority collected 205,000 pounds of hazardous waste from more than 3,700 residents, officials said.

The collections draw an average between 1,500 and 1,800 people per event, they said.

For more information, please call the Essex County Utilities Authority at (973) 792-9060 or click here.