It's our responsibility as homeowners to properly dispose of leftover paint.
Did you know that leftover household paint makes up the largest component of materials collected at local hazardous waste collection programs? And that an estimated 10% of the 750+ million gallons of architectural paint produced each year is wasted and must be disposed of? Isn’t there an environmentally friendly way to handle all this paint?
Alison Keating of American Coatings Association says yes, there is. The state of Oregon has taken a giant step with the creation of PaintCare. Keating said, “PaintCare is a new non-profit organization started to implement the first ever paint product stewardship law in the US–in Oregon. PaintCare will manage the program, which will increase the collection, reuse, recycling and proper disposal of left-over architectural paint in the state, as well as educate and help awareness of the issue of left-over paint management.”
Modeled after similarly successful Canadian programs, PaintCare’s goal is zero-waste paint. Hopefully, with the success of this program in Oregon, other states will soon follow and the entire country will be working to properly dispose of paint while saving money, protecting the environment, and conserving precious landfill space.
If you don’t live in Oregon, however, Keating says there are still many ways you can help make sure as little paint as possible is disposed of improperly.
Proper Disposal of Laytex Paint
Buy Smart. Buy only the amount of paint you need to complete your project. Your paint dealer can help you figure out how much paint you’ll need to do the job. When you’re done, look in the can. If there’s only a little bit of paint left, use it up.
Store Paint Properly. If you have a considerable amount of paint left when you finish your project, make sure you store the paint properly so it will stay fresh. Here’s the best way to store leftover paint: Cover the can’s opening with plastic, then seal the lid securely. Make sure the lid is leak-proof, then store the can, upside down, at room temperature or cooler, but do not let paint freeze. Keep out of reach of curious kids and pets.
Don’t Forget Your Leftover Paint. Once your paint is stored away, it’s easy to forget it’s there. Either use your paint for touchups or other small projects, or recycle it. You can give it to friends who need a bit of paint or donate it to a theater group or other organization that will use it. Some communities have a paint collection program that will recycle, reuse, donate or properly dispose of leftover paint.
As a Last Resort, Properly Dispose of Leftover Paint Yourself. If there is no paint collection program in your area, it may be up to you to properly dispose of your latex paint leftovers by air drying. It is not considered safe to air dry oil-based or liquid alkyd resin.
Paint Waste Disposal
If you only have a small amount of latex paint left in a can, simply leave the lid off and the paint will soon dry up. Once the paint has dried, dispose of the lidless can at a metal recycling program, if possible. If there is no metal recycling program available, or the paint can is plastic, put it in the garbage.
Larger amounts of latex paint can be dried by pouring it into a box filled with absorbent material like kitty litter or shredded papers. Recycle the metal can with its lid off and dispose of the dried paint in the garbage.
Almost all of us do some interior or exterior painting around the house now and then. It is our responsibility to dispose of the leftover paint in the most environmentally friendly way possible. Hopefully, in the near future, we can all claim to have a PaintCare program in our state to make it easier to collect, recycle, reuse and properly dispose of excess paint.
