ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Recycling leftover paint just got a whole lot easier in Minnesota.
Starting tomorrow, Nov. 1, more than 100 retail drop-off sites throughout the state will accept leftover cans of latex and oil paint from households and painting contractors. An additional 60 locations will be added by summer 2015. These retailers are playing a key role in the paint industry’s product stewardship initiative that was authorized by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor Mark Dayton in May 2013.
“Retailer support of the PaintCare program is not only good business practice, but also an extension of good customer service,” says Scott Cassel, chief executive officer of the Product Stewardship Institute, Inc., a nonprofit that, in partnership with the paint industry, led the national dialogue that laid the foundation for the PaintCare program. “By providing paint drop-off locations, retailers not only encourage more foot traffic, but they also offer an important kind of community service that addresses both environmental protection and convenience.”
The collected paint will be recycled, properly disposed of or made available for reuse by PaintCare, a Washington, D.C.−based nonprofit that develops and implements paint stewardship programs for the paint industry in the U.S.
Also beginning Nov. 1, a nominal fee will be added to the price of house paint, stain and varnish sold in Minnesota. The fee varies by container size: 35 cents for pints and quarts, 75 cents for one gallon and $1.60 for larger containers up to five gallons. The fee will fund the program’s costs of paint collection, transportation, recycling, retailer training, and public education and promotion in Minnesota.
“Homeowners, renters and painting contractors will appreciate the convenience of being able to drop off cans of leftover paint, stain and varnish at a local paint and hardware store,” said Jeremy Jones, manager of the Minnesota PaintCare program. “Customers will see it as a great service. We expect many more retailers will sign up to be PaintCare drop-off sites in the coming months. Participating retailers will have a sign saying that they’re a PaintCare drop-off site.”
Until now, leftover paint from the public has been collected primarily at county-run household hazardous waste program sites that receive all types of unwanted household chemicals. In the Twin Cities, these programs are open regularly; however, in outstate Minnesota counties, programs are less frequent. PaintCare will make paint recycling much more convenient by providing more drop-off locations that are open with regular business hours across the state.
Under Minnesota law, paint manufacturers are required to devise and manage an easy-to-use, cost-effective and environmentally responsible program to reuse and recycle leftover paint, stain and varnish sold in the state. The PaintCare program addresses those requirements.
Starting Nov. 1, Minnesota residents and businesses can find the nearest PaintCare drop-off site at paintcare.org/drop-off-locations/ by entering a zip code or city. More information about the Minnesota PaintCare program is available at paintcare.org/paintcare-states/minnesota/.
Minnesota is the sixth state to adopt the initiative. The PaintCare program here is managed by local and national PaintCare staff and overseen by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. PaintCare also operates programs in California, Connecticut, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont. PaintCare is planning programs to begin next summer in Maine and Colorado.
About PaintCare
PaintCare is a nonprofit organization
established by the American Coatings Association (the trade association
for paint manufacturers) to implement paint stewardship programs on
behalf of the paint manufacturers in states that pass paint stewardship
laws. To learn more about PaintCare, please visit www.paintcare.org.
For PaintCare images, visit www.paintcare.org/press-images.
