NORWAY — The annual household hazardous waste collection for Norway, Paris and many surrounding towns is set for Saturday, Aug. 4.

Residents will be able to dispose of their toxic and hazardous wastes from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Norway transfer station at 39 Brown St.

Officials said participating towns include Norway, Paris, Buckfield, Sumner, Hartford, Otisfield, Poland, Waterford, Albany Township, Stoneham, West Paris and Woodstock. These events are part of the ongoing Western Maine Environmental Depot Collection Program run by the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments in conjunction with municipalities in the AVCOG region and a private, qualified contractor.

Ferg Lea, an environmental engineer at AVCOG, said, “Hazardous substances such as oil-based paints, pesticides and old gasoline can cause significant environmental, health and safety problems if not properly disposed of or even if left around the house. This is one of few places in the state where residents can safely get rid of them.”

Residents may also bring their hazardous waste to the Environmental Depot, the permanent facility at the Lewiston Solid Waste Facility at 424 River Road. That facility is open from 8 a.m. to noon the first and third Saturdays of each month May through November. The facility is closed on “three-day holiday” weekends.

Other one-day collections in the western Maine area will be held in the fall. Residents of towns participating in the Environmental Depot hazardous waste collection program are free to participate in any collection event at no cost. The facility accepts waste from residents participating municipalities, which are most of the municipalities throughout Androscoggin, Franklin and Oxford counties, at no charge.

Residents from other communities can bring waste to the Depot at a cost of $28 per five gallons. AVCOG operates the program in conjunction with EPI, a licensed hazardous waste hauler that ships wastes to a variety of out-of-state recycling and disposal locations for proper handling. For a list of participating communities or for more information, please visit www.avcog.org and click on Household Hazardous Waste under Municipal Services), or call 783-9186.

Last year, approximately 1,175 gallons were collected at the Norway site. A record total of 11,165 gallons was collected at satellite collections and the Depot during last year’s collections. Lea noted that towns participating in the Norway-Paris area collection make up approximately 10 percent of all wastes collected.