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| Paint cans accumulating in my utility room |
There is now a new option offered through a nonprofit industry trade association called PaintCare that is setting up return/recycling centers where old paint can be turned in and recycled or disposed of properly. This paint can now be collected for reuse, recycling, energy recovery, or safe disposal. As of this writing, in December 2015 there are only eight states offering this service and you can use a map on their website to find a drop-off location near you. These are typically hardware or paint stores or hazardous waste disposal sites.
According to their website: "The program is funded through fees on each container of architectural paint sold in states with paint stewardship programs. Budgets and fees are set on a state-by-state basis. So far these fees have been the same in each state with a program: 35 cents, 75 cents or $1.60 per container, depending on the container size."
I was very pleased to learn about this program and will be going through my collection of paint going back 15 years to decide what to recycle.
UPDATE - a few days later
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| drying out old paint residue |
I asked him how often the paint was picked up and he said they cart off 250 gallons a WEEK! This is just from one local Ace Hardware store in Maine. Wow, talk about a successful program!