
Household Hazardous Wastes (HHW) are common chemical products found in all homes. The products themselves are not unsafe or hazardous if used for their intended purpose. However, due to their chemical composition, disposal at landfills and incinerators is not preferred.
HHW is collected at the Transfer Station in Crookston and the Recycling Center in Fosston Monday through Friday from 8 to 4:30. HHW are collected, processed, and shipped to disposal/recycling facilities by the Northwestern Minnesota HHW (NWMNHHW) Regional facility in Bagley, Minnesota. Polk is one of ten counties that belong to the NWMNHHW Program in Bagley. The other counties include the following:
- Beltrami
- Cass
- Clearwater
- Kittson
- Koochiching
- Lake of the Woods
- Marshall
- Pennington
- Red Lake
Collection Events
Polk County also hosts approximately 2 to 4 mobile one-day HHW collection events throughout Polk County during the course of the summer.

Product Exchange
In addition, the Transfer Station in Crookston operates a product exchange. This is a free program where Polk County residents are able to take HHW materials to use for their intended purpose. Items on the product exchange include the following types of materials:
- Adhesives
- Auto Chemicals
- Cleaning Products
- Paint
- Residential Pesticides
- Stain
- Varnish
The product exchange is open to the public during the regular operational hours of the Crookston Transfer Station.
Rechargeable Batteries
Rechargeable Batteries can also be disposed of at the Transfer Station in Crookston. One of the recyclers that Polk County uses is Call 2 Recycle. View a video about recycling batteries.