PAINT - 1930.9

Existing law prohibits the disposal of paint in the land or waters of the state and authorizes certain entities to accept latex paint for recycling. Paint represents almost one-third of the material collected at local household hazardous waste facilities and costs local government millions of dollars to manage. The California Architectural Paint Recovery Program, established by AB 1343 (2010), requires manufacturers of architectural paint to develop and implement a recovery program to manage the reuse, recycling, and proper disposal of leftover paint. This program allows state agencies to return leftover paint to drop-off locations at certain paint retailers, hardware stores, transfer stations, and household hazardous waste facilities throughout the state at no charge. If a state agency generates over 300 gallons of leftover paint, direct pick-ups may also be arranged.

In order to reduce the generation of leftover paint, only buy an appropriate amount of paint for each project. If paint is purchased in greater quantities than needed, it can be reused or reprocessed to make a high-quality, economical, recycled paint for use in place of standard latex paint. Leftover paint should be taken to a drop-off site for reuse, recycling, or proper management.