Gaffey Street SAFE Collection Center

Free e-​waste junk drop off. Right off the 110 Harbor Freeway. Only open on weekends 9−3pm. You don’t even have to get out of your car. Just load up your vehicle with junk, drive in, wait in-​line, unlock your doors, turn off your car, and wait for the friendly SAFE collection reps do the work. No questions asked.

SAFE Collection Center is so organized and easy to use. I highly recommend taking your hazardous waste, and e-​waste there to be recycled, and disposed of properly.
The guys that work there are friendly and courteous.
Thanks for such a responsible service, SAFE!

If you need to get rid of household chemicals, used batteries, light bulbs and even propane tanks — and you’re not an a**hole who doesn’t care about the environment — this is the place to go. They even have free mulch in an adjacent lot. Very convenient. Friendly and professional employees.

Fast, free, efficient. Friendly people. Support this collection site. Such a great service to Southern Cal and planet Earth. Take your old TVs, radios, computers, monitors, batteries, house paints, gardening poisons, insecticides, etc. Be aware that there are limits to what they accept, such as no explosives or nuclear materials. There is are daily limits, such as how many gallons of old paint cans, lawn poisons, etc, that you can take per day. Right next to it is free garden mulch.

In my back yard, I have a large, concrete lined hole in the ground. Most would call it a swimming pool… if it were full of water and people, dogs, opossums and the occasional skunk, could actually swim in it. Mine however, is just a hole in the ground, because there’s no water. Yeah that’s right, empty.
Being that my large, concrete lined hole in the ground is just that, I no longer have a need for the usual array of required chemicals. You know, those chemicals used to keep the water just right to swim in, yet prevent it from turning into a mosquito breeding, algae laden cesspool.
What does all this rambling about a large concrete lined hole in the ground have to do with the Gaffey Street Safe Collection Center? Keep reading and I’ll get there.
Last year I was moving stuff around in my garage and came across a cardboard box with two 1 gallon containers of muriatic acid in it. This is one of those previously mentioned chemicals and it’s nasty, nasty, NASTY stuff! Anyway… I noticed this cardboard box was disintegrating to the touch. Fumes somehow eeking thru the cheap, thin, milk jug type plastic container were eating away at the box. NOT GOOD! I found an empty, plastic laundry detergent bucket large enough to hold both gallon jugs and safely transferred them into it. I moved this bucket to another, well ventilated area, under a metal desk type thing.
Fast forward 8 months to a few months ago. I’m near this metal desk thingy and notice it suddenly has a LOT of rust all — under it! I investigate and discover one of those cheap, thin jugs of acid has «let go» and there’s now 3 inches of muriatic acid in the bottom of this bucket. WOW, good thing I had the foresight to transfer them to that bucket when I did! Serious haz-​mat disaster averted, PHEW!
So now I have this open top bucket with 3 inches of acid in it and another gallon just waiting for its jug to fail. The toxic fumes are what’s causing this desk to rust SO quickly. So, what the hell do I do now?!?
I called the non-​emergency number of the fire department, explain the situation and ask what my options are. Their answer? «We’ll send an engine over to check things out.» Wow I didn’t expect that! Less than 5 minutes later a fire engine rolls up with lights flashing. They take a look at what I’ve got and say they are going to call LA County Haz-​Mat. Wow I didn’t expect that either! I chatted with the fire fighters over an hour and a half until the Haz-​Mat team/​squad (2 women) showed up.
The Fire Captain explains the situation to them and the large red fire truck heads back to the station. The Haz-​Mat team then gets two 5 gallon containers out of the truck. They carefully separated the two jugs and poured the «loose» acid into the absorbent material inside. They sealed the containers, placed them in large plastic bags, then sealed those thoroughly with duct tape! DONE!
Well almost. She looks up the address of this collection center and tells me I can drop the containers there. You see they don’t dispose of the Haz-​stuff, only contain it. The hours of this collection center are 9 am to 3 pm Saturday and Sunday only. Perfect! The next morning I put the sealed containers in the back of the truck, along with another box full of random household /​garage chemicals and paint I no longer use and head over to San Pedro.
LOCATION: The non-​descript entrance is on the east side of N. Gaffey St, directly across from Y&S Body Shop. Kinda like an alley with a blue «City of Los Angeles Street /​Sanitation /​Fleet Service Yard» sign next to it. Go across the train tracks and turn left. The entrance is about 400 feet up on the left side.
It’s an interesting set up. You pull up to the entrance, tell the person with the clipboard your zip code and what you are dropping off. Next pull forward until they tell you to stop, turn off your engine and STAY in the car! They unload everything for you and you are then on your way, easy-​peasy!
This is the best and safest way to dispose of all types of household hazardous waste! Unused paint, chemicals, used motor oil and coolant, plus electronic waste like: TV’s, computers, batteries, light bulbs, etc, plus sharps too!

They need to change the hours on their website! Wasted get it, wasted time driving down there and they were closed!

What a great experience, and I’m usually very pessimistic about anything related to or supported by this great city of Los Angeles, but what a surprise here.
I had a bunch of old paint, motor oil and other chemical cleaning crap from my garage. All loaded up in the truck and what a painless experience. You drive up and don’t even get out of the car. While one attendant asks for your zip code and whether it all came from a residence or a business, another attendant unloads it all. I was in and out in two minutes!
There is absolutely NO excuse not to dispose of old paint and the like the responsible way.

Recycle place… easy drive thru. don’t have to get out of the car. they take care of everything.

Yes, I’m a hoarder — yet an organized one — when it comes to old electronics. I have a few tube TV’s, a Sony Walkman from the 90’s, a more computer keyboards and parts than I care to mention.
Well, I should say «had».
After a big garage clean-​out, I loaded up the SUV and made a trip to the SAFE Collection Center. They take all old electronics without question.
Don’t worry about getting judged for recycling an old VCR (yes, I got rid of one). Worry about getting judged for HOLDING on to your old VCR. With this service, you don’t have to hoard. Just do it!
Here are a few tips, though:
0. Before you load up, clean out your trunk and put everything you are recycling in there. When you pull up, you won’t have to worry about telling the collectors what to take and what to leave; they can just grab everything.
1. There are two stops as you drive through the complex. The first stop is for hazardous items like paint and oil. The second stop is for electronics.
2. Stay in your car. When you get there, you’re not really supposed to get out on the recycling center grounds. If you follow my tip #0, you won’t have to get out to differentiate between the junk in your trunk that you are keeping vs the junk you are recycling. If you are rolling a hooptie and have to get out to open your trunk, ask them where the nearest car recycling shop is.
3. Keep your electronics drop off to no more than 6 items. This is what the guys at the center told me. This might be up to interpretation (does a bag full of old electronic cables count as one item?) but I can understand them telling me this because I had the entire back of a GMC Envoy full of TVs, vacuum cleaners, computers, and other crap. LOL It took three guys to unload it all. Moving on…
4. They take paint, oil, and other hazardous substances you’re not supposed to pour down drains. For these, I recommend putting everything in a cardboard box in your trunk and telling them to take the whole box.
Bottom line, if you have a bunch of old, broken, and/​or unused electronics, pack ‘em up and unload ‘em in San Pedro. Same for the old ass chemicals in your garage too.
Oh, last tip. after you drop off your stuff, you can make a day of it in San Pedro by visiting the waterfront or going to Fort MacArthur. Cheers!

SAFE is the go to place to get rid of all your hazardous waste such as paint, pesticides, cleaning agents along with electronic waste, or anything else to don’t feel comfortable throwing away in your trash can.
It’s so easy that there is really no excuse to not use this service. And it’s FREE. All you do and pull in, answer some basic questions and they do all the unloading. You don’t even exit your vehicle. Then you pull out and you are on your way in less than 5 minutes.
The only downside is that it is not well marked. It’s near the Target on Gaffey on the east side and it’s a small dirt road that goes toward a hill. There is a sign, but it’s easy to miss if you are not looking for it.
Also, only open on Saturdays and Sundays.

We had a ton of scary, old chemicals in a scary, old shed behind our house. We piled them into the trunk, thinking there was no way they’d take these rotting boxes and rusted tins of death. But we were wrong. We pulled up, 2 seconds later very polite guys and girls in Breaking Bad type gear removed the goods from the trunk, and we were on our way. It’s a great resource.

I had an old anolog tv that was on its last leg and taking up precious space in my tiny humble abode. I didn’t wanna just throw it on the sidewalk. Although it might fit right in with the shot out couch that someone decided to dump out there several months ago. But thanks to my handy Unilocal app and the peeps at Gaffey Street SAFE Collection Center I didn’t have to resort to that. Somewhat hidden behind trees and across railroad tracks is this earth friendly operation. They dispose of old tv’s, computer monitors, electronics, batteries, cans of paint, oil, etc. Basically anything hazardous to Mother Earth they will dispose if responsibly at no charge to you. On top of that they unload it from your vehicle for you! Not to mention if your in the market for mulch they have a huge mound of it and you can just pull up and load up however much you need and it too is Freeeeeee!!! Being green has never been easier! What a concept! This place rocks!!!

How can you not give this place 5 stars?! Free Mulch? No fee for dumping all your hazardous waste? If you are not familar with the area you might pass it by if you are driving to fast. I was born and raised in the South bay, so I didnt have an issue finding it. :)
Happy Recycling people!

One review mentioned Friday drop-​offs but when I looked on April 25, 2012 the City of L.A. Sanitation Department website only mentions Saturday and Sunday 9am-​3pm.

Throw away your hazardous waste responsibly!
I’ve got so much junk collected over the years and I’m finally cleaning up. My first stop is trying to sell or trade them on Ebay or Craigslist, but if those don’t succeed, then they go straight here. This place is located on Gaffey right across from the DMV center (DMV on the West side and the Collection Center on the East Side of the street).
Since it’s all located in an open area, I drove with a bit of caution. But the signs were quite clear so I was able to find the correct location without driving to the mulch or any other waste area. As I drive into the collection center, a lady first asked my zip code and then let me through. I guess they were collecting information on who’s using the facility per zip code?
After that I drive up about 30 feet where there were about a half dozen men working in rotation unloading waste from vehicles. My was all prepacked in a box and I just handed it to them and drove off. The entire process took less than a minute. I’ll be back for more!

If people knew how easy it was to dispose of household e-​waste and other hazardous waste in LA County, I think more folks would do it. I’m afraid way too many people throw things away that they shouldn’t.
This is the closest spot to us in Long Beach, and it’s a quick drive across the bridge.
The process is as easy as the 1-​day events they sometimes hold throughout the county — you drive through the facility, they take the bags or boxes out of your car, and you drive off.
The hours of this place are great — they’re open (as of this review) Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 9am-​3pm.
Before you toss your old TV, laptop, spiral CFL light bulbs, etc in the trash, take a quick drive out to the S.A.F.E. collection center and have them take care of it!

FREE E-​WASTE CENTER, HAZARDOUS WASTE & FREE GARDEN MULCH STATION.
The Gaffey Street SAFE Collection Center properly disposes of
household hazardous waste and electronic waste. This center is open to the public. You can drive-​in to the center and drop off e-​waste, like: unwanted computers, keyboards, monitors, towers, televisions, printers and other electronics. They also take old/​used batteries. I had an old computer to dispose of and dropped off the old desktop and old batteries at this center.
Some electronics contain lead, copper and other heavy metals or toxic substances that are harmful for the environment when disposed of improperly. It is best to hand over those old electronics to a center like this. Further, it is illegal to put televisions and computer monitors in landfill. The Gaffey Street SAFE Collection is the safe way to go, plus it’s a FREE collection center. Some e-​waste collection centers charge.
This center also collects used clothes and has a collection (Yellow) Bin outside the gate. The clothes you donate get distributed throughout the world to people who need a helping hand. These little drop off bins are convenient and are also found throughout LA.
HOURS OF OPERATION are: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 9:00 a.m. — 3:00 p.m. However, the free mulch is available 7 days a week and is located on the north side drive way. You can drive up to the mound of mulch housed on the spot and help yourself.
Recycle, reuse and renewing always, fellow Unilocalers!

«FREE» always gets me there.
After weeks of procrastinating I got my butt over to get some free mulch. Gaffey center was stocked up with mulch, mountains of it and free for the taking!
Now if I was a smarter person I would’ve taken into consideration the relatively sedentary life style that I lead during the week when shoveling this rich organic substance. Instead, I decided to fill the bed of my truck to the top. Now I sit typing this review and every part of my body is tired.
Tired but happy. I know that this stuff will be placed in my garden and in a few weeks I will be eating organically grown veggies from my garden. I will know that I have help the environment by using recycled materials and conserving water.
Tips:
* Bring containers or a truck with bed to carry the mulch
* Bring shovel and a rake or hoe
* Bring a friend if you are going to get a lot
* Pull your vehicle as closed to the piles as possible
* Self-​serve — just pull up and get it, you don’t need to get persmission
* Send Eddie C. some fresh veggies
Next time? Drop off some Haz Mats.

This is a good resource to know where to dispose of whats considered household hazardous waste. This includes (from the website):
Some examples of what you CAN bring to a HHW collection:
* Motor oil, oil filters, brake fluid
* Used antifreeze
* Paint, paint thinner, turpentine
* Cleaners with acid or lye
* Pesticides or herbicides
* Household batteries or car batteries
* Pool chemicals
* CRT’s, old TV’s, misc. electronics
* Mercury thermometers or thermostats
* Used Needles or Sharps (In a Sharps container or sturdy box labeled «SHARPS»)
* Unwanted or expired prescriptions (MORE INFO)
While somethings like used oil and antifreeze can be collected locally at your automotive store, stuff like paints and other chemicals need to be dropped off here, or at any of the other Household Hazardous Waste collection centers in LA county.
Its a bit easy to miss, its on the east side of N. Gaffey and between the Kawasaki motorcycle dealer and the EZ Smog. Turn right going north into the small road and turn left.
Now you know, and knowing…

All your household electronic waste, what are you gonna do?
With the transition from Analog TV to Digital TV, some people are probably wondering where they can dispose of old TVs. Or may be some people have no idea how to get rid of their old computers, etc. I feel so blessed I found a place like this and I couldn’t wait till I could share it with y’all!
My parents-​in-​law had their old analog TV broken. The thing was like 36 inches and really huge and heavy. It’s broken so you can’t really donate them. Getting rid of these ewastes can be expensive, since some places do take them but they ask for disposal charge and stuff. Well, who knew that LA county actually has this wonderful facility where you can drop off your household electronic wastes?
We carried that broken TV on the minivan and drove to this place. All the personnel there were wearing shower caps and white gowns and blue gloves. You don’t even have to get out the car; they have a sign that says remain in the car. The TV that took two men and more to carry, was carried out by this huge guy, just one guy. Then all we had to do was to give them our zip code and drive out.
They are open on Fri, Sat, Sun from 9:30AM to 3PM. I strongly recommend that if you need to get rid of some household ewaste or any other hazardous waste, then be sure to check their internet page first. They do not take items like bulky old furnitures, etc.
I am happy that my father and mother in law are enjoying their brand new digital TV, a lot lighter than the other one, and bigger in inches. Our next step: getting them a cable box with a DVR so they don’t have to record their fav shows in VHS anymore =)