How to store and dispose of lawn chemicals safely

Most garages and garden sheds have a shelf of half-used lawn products: a weed killer from three summers ago, a bag of fertiliser that’s gone hard, a bottle with a faded label nobody can read. They’re easy to forget about, and they’re one of the more common ways children and pets come into contact with garden chemicals.

Good storage keeps everyone safe and keeps products working. Good disposal keeps chemicals out of drains, creeks and landfill. Neither takes long, and every state and territory has a free or low-cost way to get rid of old household chemicals.

Buy and mix only what you need

The easiest chemical to store or dispose of is the one you never bought.

• Buy the size you’ll use in a season or two, not the economy pack.
• Measure your lawn with the Lawn Area Calculator and work out how much you need with the Product Application Calculator before you buy.
• Mix only enough for the area you’re treating today. Leftover spray mix is harder to deal with than product in its original container.
• Write the date on the pack when you buy it, so you know how old it is.

Where to store lawn chemicals

healthdirect, the Australian Government’s health information service, advises keeping dangerous substances in childproof locked cupboards 1.5 m above the ground, and keeping products labelled and in their original containers. For lawn chemicals, that means:

• Locked. A lockable cupboard or steel cabinet in the shed or garage. A high shelf without a lock isn’t enough: children climb.
• High. At least 1.5 m off the ground, out of reach and out of sight of children.
• Away from food and drink, including pet food and animal feed.
• Cool, dry and out of direct sun. Follow the label’s storage directions. Heat and sunlight can damage containers and products, and freezing can damage some liquids.
• Away from heat sources, such as hot water systems, barbecues and fuel.
• Well ventilated, so fumes don’t build up.

Keep them in their original containers

• Never decant chemicals into drink bottles, food containers or unlabelled jars. healthdirect specifically warns against storing liquid chemicals in old drink bottles, because children and adults can mistake them for something to drink.
• Keep lids closed tightly, with child-resistant closures done up properly.
• Keep the label readable. It holds the directions, first aid instructions and disposal advice. If a label is getting worn, you can usually find the approved label on the APVMA’s PubCRIS database; save a copy.

Organise the shelf

• Group products by type: herbicides together, insecticides together, fertilisers together.
• Keep herbicides apart from seed, fertiliser and potting mix, so a leak can’t contaminate products you’ll use on plants you want to keep.
• Stand liquids in a plastic tray or tub to catch drips and leaks.
• Store bags of fertiliser off the floor, sealed, so they don’t absorb moisture and cake.
• Keep a list of what’s on the shelf and when you bought it. Your Lawn Journal is a handy place.

Store equipment safely too

Sprayers, measuring cylinders and spreaders hold traces of product.

• Clean them after every use, as the label directs.
• Store them in the locked area, or at least out of children’s reach.
• Keep plastic sprayers out of the sun. The Victorian Department of Primary Industries notes that ultraviolet light harms the plastic and shortens a sprayer’s life.
• Label the herbicide sprayer so it’s never used for anything else.
• Never use kitchen utensils for measuring or mixing chemicals, and never return them to the kitchen.

Children and pets

Children and pets are most at risk while a product is being used, and when it’s left out afterwards.

• Put products away straight after use. Don’t leave them on a bench, the lawn or the back step while you take a break.
• Mix where children and pets can’t reach, and keep them inside while you work.
• Store baits separately and securely. Snail, slug and rodent baits are especially attractive to dogs.
• Know who to call. The Poisons Information Centre is on 13 11 26, 24 hours a day, from anywhere in Australia. For animals, call your vet or the Animal Poisons Helpline on 1300 869 738.

Keep both numbers in your phone and on the inside of the chemical cupboard door.

Checking what you have

Once a year, at the start of spring, go through the shelf.

• Check each product is still registered. Products can be withdrawn or their labels changed. You can search for a product on PubCRIS.
• Check the date. Look for a batch or expiry date on the pack.
• Check the condition. Liquids that have separated and won’t remix, granules that have set hard, containers that are swollen, cracked or leaking, and products that have frozen may not work as intended.
• Check the label. If it’s unreadable and you’re not sure what the product is, don’t use it.

Anything that fails these checks goes to a household chemical collection.

Leftover spray mix

The best plan is to have none. Calibrate your sprayer and mix only what you need. If you do have some left:

• Apply it to the treated area at the label rate, if the label allows it. Don’t go over the same area twice, which doubles the dose.
• Don’t store spray mix for another day. Many mixes separate or break down.
• Never pour it down a sink, toilet, stormwater drain or onto the ground.
• If you can’t use it as the label allows, take it to a household chemical collection in a sealed, labelled container.

Empty containers

Follow the label’s container disposal instructions. Many ask you to:

1. Rinse the empty container with water, and add the rinsings to the spray tank so they’re applied to the treated area.
2. Make the container unusable, for example by puncturing it or crushing it, if the label says to.
3. Dispose of it as the label directs, often in the household rubbish.

Never reuse a chemical container for anything else, especially not for water, food or another chemical.

If the label’s instructions aren’t clear, or the container still has product in it, take it to a household chemical collection.

Unwanted chemicals: where to take them

Never put liquid chemicals in the household bin, pour them down a drain, or bury them. Every state and territory has a household chemical service, usually free for household quantities. Services, locations and limits change, so check before you go.

If you live outside these areas, ask your local council.

Taking chemicals to a collection

• Keep products in their original containers, with the lids on tightly.
• Pack them upright in a sturdy box or tub, with liquids in a tray, so nothing tips over in the car.
• Don’t mix products together to save space.
• Label anything unknown as “unknown” rather than guessing.
• Put them in the boot, not inside the car with passengers.
• Check the limits. Services may limit container sizes and the total quantity a household can bring.
• Wear gloves if containers are old or leaking, and put leaking containers inside a larger sealed container.

Fertilisers

Fertilisers aren’t pesticides, but they still need care.

• Store bags sealed and dry, off the floor, out of reach of children and pets.
• Use up part bags at the label rate on the lawn or garden, rather than throwing them out.
• Fertiliser that has caked can often be broken up and used, if it spreads evenly. If it won’t, or it’s been contaminated, ask your council how to dispose of it.
• Never tip fertiliser into drains or waterways. Nutrients from fertiliser that reach stormwater feed algal blooms.

Spills

• Keep children and pets away.
• Put on gloves and any other protective equipment the label lists.
• Stop the leak if it’s safe to do so, by standing the container upright or putting it inside another container.
• Soak up liquids with an absorbent material such as sand or soil. Sweep up granules and powders.
• Put the waste in a sealed, labelled container and take it to a household chemical collection.
• Never hose a spill into a drain or onto the lawn.
• Follow the label or the product’s safety data sheet for anything more specific.

If a spill reaches a drain, creek or waterway, contact your state’s environment protection authority or your council.

Common mistakes

• Decanting chemicals into drink bottles or unlabelled containers.
• Storing chemicals on an open shelf or on the floor of the shed.
• Keeping leftover spray mix for next time.
• Pouring old chemicals down the sink or stormwater drain.
• Reusing empty chemical containers.
• Hoarding products you’ll never use, until the labels fade and nobody knows what they are.

Log it

Use your Lawn Journal to keep a simple list of what’s in your chemical cupboard, when you bought it and when you last used it. Add a note when you take products to a collection. It makes the yearly check quicker, and it stops you buying a second bottle of something you already have.