I have to dispose of "old" lye that has clumped together. I contacted my waste disposal company and they say they don't handle hazardous waste. I went to earth911.com and couldn't find a listing for "lye" or "sodium hydroxide." Can someone help me figure this out? I want to do the right thing by disposing of it properly, but I'm not sure how.
Disposing of lye
- Thread starter kmkieva
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Our county has a hazardous materials waste facility. If you have one near you, I would check there.
How much do you have? It is is not a huge amount (such as a 50 pound bucket), and you only have a little, you can use it to flush your drains if you have any slow moving drains are not on a septic system.
NaOH is the main or single ingredient in drain cleaners sold in many locations throughout the US.
NaOH is the main or single ingredient in drain cleaners sold in many locations throughout the US.
From this thread -- https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/using-old-lye.75039/#post-769498 -- it sounds like the OP has a fair bit and it's pretty lumpy. I get the impression it's going to be difficult to use it even for cleaning drains, if it's as hard and chunky as it sounds like it might be. I'm thinking the hazardous waste recycling option is going to be the best option.
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