Household Hazardous Waste Day runs today from 10am to 2pm at the Operations Building at 495, 11th Street North West. 

Flammable, corrosive, reactive and poisonous items, such as old paints, paint strippers, anti-freeze, old household cleaners, toilet and drain cleaners, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, acids, furniture polishes and solvents are all being collected.

Portage La Prairie city councillor Melissa Draycott says it's an opportunity for people in Portage to remove hazardous items, which they may no longer need, from their houses. She explains some of the benefits of Hazardous Waste Day.

"It does a couple of different things, it just offers the ability for you to [dispose of hazardous waste] somewhere in town, that way they will be safely discarded and put in the right place. It also prevents those items from going into our landfill, which then affects us as people as well. We just want to make sure that those particular items don't go to the landfill and so this is great opportunity for you to come and drop them off."

She says each year quite a few people come out and quite a bit of hazardous waste is collected.

Draycott notes oil and oil containers are not being accepted at Household Hazardous Waste Day but can be dropped off at the Portage and District Recycling depot.