Drop it off
Where El Dorado residents can take paint:
- Clean Harbors Household Hazardous Waste Collection (El Dorado, Arkansas)309 American Circle, El Dorado, AR 71730
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All drop-off locations in and near El Dorado1
Start with these
Clean Harbors Household Hazardous Waste Collection (El Dorado, Arkansas)
309 American Circle, El Dorado, AR 71730
- Accepts
- Paints, solvents, rust removers, used oil and filters, batteries, antifreeze, automotive products, brake fluids, degreasers, carburetor cleaners, dry cleaning fluids, herbicides, pesticides, pool chemicals, common household cleaners, butane cylinders for grills or lanterns, fluorescent bulbs and other common household items.
- Who can use it
- Residents of El Dorado and Union County. Business-generated waste isn't taken.
- Hours
- 8 a.m.-noon on collection Saturdays. The event text, which opens by announcing the April 18, 2026 collection, says the third Saturday of every month, April through September. The city's calendar lists monthly dates beyond that, including November 21 and December 19, 2026, and more into August 2027. Call to confirm before you go.
- Load limits
- Waste must be in a sturdy, non-returnable container; staff won't pour it off for you. Not taken: smoke detectors, firearms, explosives, compressed gases, radioactive waste, business-generated waste, biomedical waste, tires, appliances, e-waste and trash. No quantity limit is posted.
- Fees
- Free, per the city's event listing.
The event text says 309 American Circle, but the calendar's venue entry says 309 American Rd. Clean Harbors' own page for its El Dorado Incineration Facility uses 309 American Circle and lists 870-863-7173; the event listing says to call 870-864-3711 for details. It's a drive-up service, so load the waste where it's easy to lift out of your vehicle.
Which option fits your El Dorado cleanout?4
You have paint and thinner from a garage cleanout
Bring them to the next Clean Harbors collection in sturdy containers you don't need back. Paints and solvents are both on the accepted list. Staff won't pour anything off.
You want to clear it out before the holidays
The city's calendar lists collections on November 21 and December 19, 2026, but the event text says the season runs April through September. Call 870-864-3711 to confirm a date before you load the car.
You run a painting business
The free collection doesn't take business-generated waste. Clean Harbors' page describes the El Dorado plant as a hazardous waste incineration facility and lists 870-863-7173; call to ask about paid service.
You live outside Union County
The collection is for El Dorado and Union County residents. ADEQ's 2018 assessment says permitting rules kept Clean Harbors from opening it to the whole district, which also covers Calhoun, Columbia, Dallas, Miller and Ouachita counties. ADEQ's center list has no site in any of those counties. Call your county's solid waste office.
El Dorado rules and tips5
THE LOCAL ANSWER
Call 870-864-3711 to check the next free Clean Harbors household hazardous waste collection, then bring paint to 309 American Circle, El Dorado, Arkansas, between 8 a.m. and noon. It's for El Dorado and Union County residents. The event text says third Saturdays, April through September, but the city's calendar lists monthly dates into 2027.
This guide is for El Dorado, Arkansas, the Union County seat, not El Dorado, Kansas. Clean Harbors holds a free household hazardous waste collection for El Dorado and Union County residents at its plant at 309 American Circle, 8 a.m. to noon on collection Saturdays. Paints are on its list. Arkansas has no PaintCare program, so stores don't take paint back.
Which Saturdays? The listings disagree
The event text opens by announcing the April 18, 2026 collection and says the third Saturday of every month, April through September. The city's calendar lists monthly dates beyond that, including November 21 and December 19, 2026, and more into August 2027. The April through September 2026 dates have passed. Call 870-864-3711 before you go.
Your containers won't come back
Put waste in a sturdy container you don't need back; staff won't pour it off for you. It's a drive-up service, so load it where it's easy to lift out of your vehicle without a spill.
What's turned away
Smoke detectors, firearms, explosives, compressed gases, radioactive waste, business-generated waste, biomedical waste, tires, appliances, e-waste and trash aren't collected. Paints, solvents, rust removers, degreasers and household cleaners are.
Only El Dorado and Union County
The event is for El Dorado and Union County residents. ADEQ's 2018 Southwest Arkansas needs assessment says Clean Harbors held collection days on occasion and the regional district was working to extend them to the whole six-county district, but permitting rules prevented Clean Harbors from doing so.
Not El Dorado, Kansas
If you're in El Dorado, Kansas, this isn't your guide. Butler County, Kansas runs its own hazardous waste site with a limit of 5 gallons of oil or paint per day, and it takes items only in original labeled containers.
Free pickup programs and other options
Arkansas has no PaintCare program, and PaintCare's locator lists no site in Union County. Arkansas DEQ's list of household hazardous waste centers has no Union County entry either. We found no city page on paint in El Dorado household trash. Before putting any paint in the trash, ask the city's Sanitation Department at 870-881-4185 or Union County Solid Waste at 870-881-4040. The city's directory also lists Public Works at 870-863-4244 and a recycling drop-off line at 870-881-4186; we found no page saying city recycling takes paint.
Getting your paint ready
Use a sturdy container you can leave behind, because there's no pouring off. Put it where it's easy to unload. Leave tires, appliances, electronics, trash and anything from a business at home.
Full preparation checklist →El Dorado questions5
Where can I get rid of paint in El Dorado, Arkansas?
At Clean Harbors' free household hazardous waste collection, 309 American Circle, 8 a.m. to noon on collection Saturdays. It's for El Dorado and Union County residents.
When is the next collection?
The listings disagree. The event text says third Saturdays, April through September, but the city's calendar also lists November 21 and December 19, 2026. Call 870-864-3711 to check.
Does it cost anything?
No. The city's listing calls it a free collection.
Can my business drop off paint?
No. Business-generated waste is on the list of items it won't collect.
I live elsewhere in south Arkansas. Can I go?
The event is for El Dorado and Union County residents. A 2018 state report says permitting rules kept Clean Harbors from opening it to the rest of the Southwest district (Calhoun, Columbia, Dallas, Miller and Ouachita counties along with Union).
Sources and how we checked10
October 17, 2026: read the City of El Dorado's (goeldorado.com) Clean Harbors event listing, venue calendar (past and upcoming dates) and Contacts / Directories page; Clean Harbors' El Dorado Incineration Facility page; Union County's home page and directory; Arkansas DEQ's household hazardous waste center list (no Union County entry) and its 2018 Southwest Arkansas needs assessment; Butler County, Kansas's hazardous waste page (to separate the two El Dorados); and PaintCare's locator data (no Arkansas program; no Union County record). The 2018 assessment also says Union County and the City of El Dorado each collect their own trash and send it to the WCA landfill; that may have changed. Unresolved: which months the collection runs (event text vs calendar); 309 American Circle vs American Rd; any quantity limit; whether residency is checked; whether latex can go in El Dorado trash (no city page found).
Checked October 17, 2026 against these sources, not by phone. How we research.
City of El Dorado, AR (goeldorado.com): Clean Harbors household hazardous waste collection ↗City of El Dorado, AR (goeldorado.com): Clean Harbors event calendar ↗Clean Harbors: El Dorado Incineration Facility ↗City of El Dorado, AR (goeldorado.com): Contacts / Directories ↗Union County, AR: County Directory ↗Union County, AR: home page ↗Arkansas DEQ: Household Hazardous Waste Collection Centers ↗Arkansas DEQ: Southwest Arkansas Regional Solid Waste Needs Assessment, 2018 (PDF) ↗Butler County, KS: HHW (Household Hazardous Waste) ↗PaintCare drop-off site locator ↗
