The new PaintCare paint recycling program, launched in mid-July, has already added more than 60 new drop-off sites to its program. A complete list of the more than 100 drop-off sites across Colorado can be found at www.paintcare.org. The program will make it much more convenient for households and most businesses to recycle unwanted paint.

“We are thrilled to see the excitement and energy from Colorado retailers to become paint drop-off sites,” said Paul Fresina, PaintCare’s director of communications. “Before the program was implemented, many people didn’t have any easy way to get rid of their unwanted paint, but now Coloradans have the option to simply drop off paint at a PaintCare retail partner near them for recycling.”

The new drop-off sites throughout Colorado are mostly paint and hardware stores, accepting paint from the public. Paint drop-off sites will accept all paint brands, regardless of where they were purchased. Items that can be dropped off for recycling include most house paints, primers, stains, sealers, and clear top coatings (varnish and shellac). Drop-off sites will be open year-round during each retail location’s regular business hours.

PaintCare will transport the collected paint from the drop-off sites to processing facilities, where it will be remixed into recycled-content paint, used as fuel, made into other products or, in the case of some unrecyclable paint, it will be dried out and properly disposed.

“Colorado is already an environmentally conscious state, so the PaintCare paint recycling program will make it easy and convenient for people to recycle their unused paint, and it will also be a perfect addition to the other types of recycling people are already doing,” said Cathy Lurie, PaintCare’s Colorado program manager. “Our goal is to not only provide convenient locations across the state for people to recycle their unwanted paint, but we will also be educating consumers about buying the right amount of paint and providing tips for using up leftovers.”

While the PaintCare recycling program is free for anyone who drops off paint, a nominal fee has been added to the price of paint sold in Colorado as of July 1 to fund all aspects of the program including paint collection, transportation, recycling, public outreach, and program administration. The fee varies by the size of container: 35 cents for pints and quarts, 75 cents for one gallon cans, and $1.60 for 5 gallon buckets.

One of the main objectives of the new program is to relieve local governments of some of the costs of handling paint and paying for those costs through either taxes or waste management fees. PaintCare will also be working with most household hazardous waste (HHW) facilities in the state that have been taking back paint for years. More than half of the materials handled by HHW facilities is paint. The program allows those facilities interested in working with PaintCare to have their paint transportation and recycling costs covered by the PaintCare fees.

The program was signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper in 2014 as Senate Bill 14-029. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is overseeing the program. Six other states have similar paint stewardship programs operated by PaintCare: California, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.