BRIMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio — There's new life coming for those old, donated household goods brought to the Portage County Recycling Center along Mogodore Road.
When residents drop off paint, cleaning supplies, pool chemicals and other household hazardous materials, those items may soon end up on a shelf instead of in a landfill. They plan to open a free "Reuse Center" to county residents — a chance for a second life for those never-opened or barely used household items.
"We started recognizing there was very good usable material, and we were tired of sending it to a landfill," Collins said.
The Portage County Solid Waste Management District launched its household hazardous materials program in 2023.
Since then, Director Dawn Collins said she began noticing a pattern in what residents were bringing in.
That observation sparked the idea for a free store, open to Portage County residents and stocked with barely used or never-opened items — spray paint, cleaning supplies, windshield wiper fluid, and other products that are difficult to dispose of but still have plenty of use left in them.
"If you walk into any store, you'll take a Rustoleum for instance, and it's $10 for instance, and you'll be able to grab this off the shelf [for free]," Collins said.
The savings aren't just for residents either.
Right now, Collins told News 5 they can spend anywhere from $4,000-$20,000 to dispose of items brought in during their once-a-month household hazardous waste day (the first Monday of every month from 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.)
"Household hazardous waste is our most expensive program," Collins said.
Collins said she heard about similar reuse programs happening in places like Florida.
"In the state of Ohio, I do not know another facility that handles household hazardous waste in this reuse type," Collins said. "It's usually incinerated or going to a landfill."
The district has already begun collecting materials for the store. The goal is to open it to Portage County residents as soon as April, operating on Mondays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. alongside the existing hard-to-recycle drop-off program.
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
