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.
To participate in the program, farmers are asked to fill out the registration form and submit to MDA's Pesticide Regulation Section (see below for more detail). Please be aware that there is currently no funding for the program but registrants will be put on a wait list for when funding becomes available.
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.
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 document or contact the Pesticide Regulation Section at 410-841-5710.
