A bridge much too far

Waste Watch’s recent newspaper notice listing personal care products as hazardous waste is just the last straw. The assertion that shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and a host of other personal care products are hazardous waste is simply ludicrous.

Every one of the products on the list has been approved as safe for use on and/or in humans by the relevant government agencies in Canada, the U.S. and most other developed nations of the world.

To maintain that toothpaste, for example, which we put into our mouths every day, suddenly becomes hazardous when the residue is thrown away, is beyond any definition of rational.

It’s not just a matter to be laughed off, however, since we are required to trundle all of these empty bottles, tubes, etc. to one of only a few, mostly inconveniently located, sparingly operated gathering centers. Who decides these things, and how do we stop them?

Harry Smith,

Bonshaw