The mission of Wisconsin Clean Sweep is to assist communities in improving & sustaining public health, environmental & animal safety by reducing risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals, pesticides, & unwanted prescription drugs around Wisconsin residences, farms & businesses. Wisconsin Clean Sweep was established in 1990 to provide financial assistance to Wisconsin counties, regional planning commissions, cities, villages, and other municipalities to collect unwanted pesticides. In 2004, the program expanded to include household wastes such as acids, flammable chemicals, mercury, lead paint, and solvents. In 2007, the Legislature authorized the Department to increase grant eligibility to include unwanted prescription drugs such as controlled substances, analgesics, anti-inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, gastrointestinal drugs, and antihistamines.

Operating rules for the Clean Sweep Program can be found in ATCP 34.

ATCP 34: Clean Sweep Program - 5 page PDF

Most local governments offer free or very low cost collection services to homeowners in rural and urban areas along with active and abandoned farms. Certain businesses are regulated by the Wisconsin DNR as “Very Small Quantity Generators” (VSQGs). Wisconsin Clean Sweep can offer municipalities a 50 percent subsidy for disposal of pesticide wastes from VSQGs.

It is best to contact your municipality if you have any questions about what they will be collecting at any given time: not all municipalities collect household, farm and pharmaceutical wastes at the same time. Likewise, municipalities offer a host of solid waste and recycling services in their communities and may be running a clean sweep without use of Wisconsin Clean Sweep funds.