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Recently I needed to touch up a painted cabinet in my Family Room. While searching through my stock pile of used paint cans, I became overwhelmed with how many cans of unused paint I had – some never opened, some paints never made it onto my walls! Naturally, the paint that I was in search of was nearly gone so I had to go to the hardware store to have a custom match mixed up.
A quick trip to Maine Hardware on Saint John Street in Portland, ME turned into a new discovery. I was handed a pamphlet by one of the painting department assistants when I inquired as to where I could take my unused and older paints. Maine Hardware is part of a paint recycling program offered in the state of Maine. Below are snippets from the brochure that I wanted to share.
The program is called PaintCare Maine. www.paintcare.org or call (855)PAINT09.
A Program to Manage Leftover Paint!
(from the Paint Care pamphlet) “each year about 800 million gallons of architectural paint are sold in the United States. Did you know that about 10 percent goes unused and is available for recycling?”
How to Recycle: (from the Paint Care pamphlet)
PaintCare sites accept all brands of leftover house paint, stain and varnish, whether recently used or many years old. Containers must be five gallons or smaller, and some types of paint are not accepted. All PaintCare drop-off sites accept up to five gallons per visit. Some sites accept more. Please call sites in advance to make sure they can accept the amount of paint you would like to recycle.
What happens to the Paint? (from the Paint Care pamphlet)
PaintCare makes sure that your leftover paint is remixed into recycled paint, used as a fuel, made into other products, or is properly disposed if no other beneficial use for it can be found.
Paint Care Fee: (from the Paint Care pamphlet)
PaintCare is funded by a fee paid by paint manufacturers for each can of paint sold in the state. Manufacturers pass the fee to retailers, who then apply it to the price of paint Sales tax is not applied to the fee in Maine. Retailers are encouraged to show the fee on customer receipts. The fee is $0.00 for half pint or smaller up to $1.60 for larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons.
Please feel free to read through the PaintCare paint recycling program for more information on how you can easily dispose of your unwanted, unused cans of paint.
I hope you find this public information useful.
