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The Maryland Department of Agriculture's Pesticide Disposal Program is a free service for all current or retired farmers and producers, including orchardists, nurserymen, greenhouse operators, and Christmas tree growers.
The program will collect any product with a registration number from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and any other material that can be identified as a pesticide. Any unknown material will be sampled and tested by MDA prior to collection to ensure safe and proper disposal.
MDA’s Pesticide Disposal Program was first introduced in 1995. The program has collected nearly 190,000 pounds of unusable or unwanted pesticide from 385 sites since its inception. Funding for the program comes from licensing, certification and registration fees collected from pesticide businesses, certified applicators, and pesticide manufacturers and registrants.
For more information on the program, please consult our Frequently Asked Questions or contact the Pesticide Regulation Section at 410-841-5710.
To participate in the 2024 program, farmers are asked to fill out and submit the Pesticide Disposal Program registration form - PDF - 243.35 KB.
After reviewing applications, an MDA inspector will schedule a site visit to verify information.
Once the program has a complete inventory of materials that need to be disposed, MDA will contract a licensed hazardous waste hauler to collect the pesticide materials directly from the storage site and transport to an EPA-approved disposal facility.
This is a statewide program that covers all 23 counties and Baltimore City.
Registration forms are available from the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension and must be submitted to the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) by January 15, 2025. Final collection of the pesticides will be targeted for completion by June 30, 2025.
The program is available to ALL farmers or producers, such as orchardists, Christmas tree growers, nurserymen, and greenhouse operators, current or retired. In addition, retired farmers or individuals who have purchased farms which have large quantities of pesticides are eligible. Homeowners with household pesticides are not eligible. Pesticide dealers and commercial applicators, contact the Pesticide Regulation Section for applicability.
MDA will accept any pesticide product with an EPA or USDA registration number and any material that can be identified as a pesticide. MDA will handle requests for identification. Fertilizers, antifreeze, motor oil, etc., will NOT be accepted.
The program is free. There is no cost to participate.
The program will accept applications from August 12, 2024 to January 15, 2025. Upon review of your application, an MDA inspector will be in contact to schedule a site visit where they will verify information included on the registration form. Once the program has a complete inventory of material for disposal, it will contract a licensed hazardous waste hauler to transport from the storage site to an approved disposal facility. Pickups are expected to begin in May, 2025. Final collection of the pesticides will be targeted for completion by June 30, 2025. The program operates on a first-comefirst served basis. Return your forms early.
MDA field personnel will verify the registration form by visiting the pesticide storage site and tagging products listed for disposal. Large quantities of unknown or unidentified materials will be sampled for analysis by MDA chemists. A list of pesticides registered for disposal and total amounts will be compiled by MDA staff for each site.
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) regulates the disposal of hazardous waste, including waste pesticides. MDE is responsible for tracking disposal of these materials and will issue a disposal permit to MDA for only those sites registered in the disposal program that exceed 10,000 pounds of unwanted pesticides.
MDA will contract with a licensed hazardous waste hauler who will overpack the pesticides and collect them directly from the storage site. The pesticides will be transported by the hauler to an EPA approved incinerator or hazardous waste landfill for disposal. NOTE: MDA inspectors cannot collect unusable pesticides.
The disposal program is strictly voluntary with no regulatory impacts. It is not a violation of state or federal laws to possess an unwanted, unusable, banned or outdated pesticide. MDA field personnel will visit storage sites only to verify registration forms (products, quantity). A participant may withdraw from the program at any time for any reason.
Participants can accurately list the names and amounts of pesticides they want to dispose of and provide cropping or use information (crop or pest) on “unknown materials” to help identify them. Participants can also cooperate with MDA personnel and the contract hauler to promptly schedule inspections and collections to quickly complete the program.
