PaintCare Celebrates Milestone Anniversary in New York; Over 700,000 Gallons of Leftover Paint Collected to Date

ALBANY, N.Y., May 2, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PaintCare is celebrating a major program milestone: its one-year anniversary in New York State. Having launched its statewide New York postconsumer (leftover) paint stewardship initiative last May, the national nonprofit organization, created by the American Coatings Association, has been keenly focused on expanding paint drop-off opportunities and consumer education efforts—which aided in the collection of more than 700,000 gallons of leftover architectural paint in the past year.

"New Yorkers across the state are discovering how easy it is to recycle their leftover paint through the new PaintCare program. More and more households, schools and businesses are taking advantage of our drop-off sites, our large volume pickup services, and our community paint recycling events," said Andrew Radin, New York Program Manager, PaintCare. "And, I have to say, we are lucky to have some great retail and municipal partners that are volunteering their locations for our year-round collection efforts."

Advocating for more responsible household and commercial paint purchases, reuse, and recycling, PaintCare has organized hundreds of recycling opportunities for households, businesses, and institutions across the state this past year. PaintCare's continued success is due to its unique partnerships with local paint retail stores, hardware retailers, and government facilities that have volunteered to collect leftover paint from the public during business hours. The program's New York network currently includes more than 285 partner locations. Drop-off distribution helps increase recycling convenience as more than 90 percent of New York residents live within 15 miles of a drop-off site.

New this year - the paint industry-led stewardship organization is hosting several free community recycling events at local higher education institutions including, most recently, at Farmingdale State College this past April where PaintCare collected an estimated 3,000 gallons of household paint from Nassau and Suffolk County residents. Another recycling event is scheduled this June 25 at CUNY York College for Queens County residents.

To assist with larger volumes of paint, PaintCare offers free direct pickups to businesses, organizations, and households with 100 gallons or more of leftover paint. PaintCare also tapped New York-based paint recyclers GreenSheen Paint in Rotterdam and Empire Recycled Paint Inc. in Syracuse to assist as designated large volume collection sites, accepting unlimited quantities of paint at their processing facilities.

According to Kevin Callahan, President of GreenSheet Paint, "We are happy to be partnered with PaintCare in the State of New York. The state has been underserved for years when it comes to responsible and sustainable recycling options for paint and people seem to be very pleased with this new program. There has been a tremendous amount of interest in the drop off sites, the large volume pickups and the community events. This program is pushing the state in a very positive direction and bringing residents options for recycling that simply didn't exist in the past."

Justin Smith, General Manager of Empire Recycled Paint Inc said, "As a program collector, transporter, and processor, Empire works side-by-side with PaintCare to provide excellent service and program outcomes, including paint recycling and zero landfill disposal, while creating Green-tech jobs in Syracuse. Congratulations to PaintCare and New York on completing a successful first year! Empire looks forward to continuing improvements and growth in the years to come."

When using PaintCare's sites, events, and other services, leftover paint must be dropped off in its original container with its original manufacturer's label. No leaking, unlabeled, or empty containers will be accepted. A full list of products accepted by the program is available on PaintCare's website at www.paintcare.org/products.

Most of the paint PaintCare receives is water-based latex paint which can be recycled back into paint by processors, which includes Empire Recycled Paint, GreenSheen Paint, and other valuable partners. Some paint is also made immediately available as-is (reuse), used as a fuel, or put to another beneficial use.

Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick, Assembly Environmental Conservation Committee Chair said, "For too long, used paint would either take up space in utility closets or fill our landfills with volatile organic compound emitting waste. New York's paint recycling program has changed that by making it easier than ever for individuals to safely dispose of their unused paint. I am grateful for PaintCare's partnership with New York State to ensure that our leftover paint is reused, recycled, or otherwise responsibly disposed."

New York State Senator Pete Harckham said, "PaintCare is a textbook example of an industry taking responsibility for the products it places into the stream of commerce. Extended Produce Responsibility programs, such as PaintCare, enable residents to recycle materials and encourage the reduction of non-recyclable materials. Congratulations to PaintCare on its anniversary. Let's work to expand this concept to other fields and further cut our waste."

Assemblyman Albert A. Stirpe, Jr. said, "It is no secret that achieving environmental sustainability can seem like a daunting task but actionable steps like recycling leftover paint helps preserve our natural resources. That's why I championed and helped pass the NY Postconsumer Paint Collection Program which has partnered with PaintCare New York, a nonprofit organization, to steward an economically sound and community-focused program to expand recycling opportunities and boost educational campaigns in New York. In their inaugural year, PaintCare New York has worked to recover over 700,000 gallons of unused paint and thanks to their partnership, we successfully hosted the first annual paint recycling event in my Assembly district, where local retailers, consumers, and municipalities were able to drop-off leftover paint for recycling or proper disposal. Two more paint recycling events are being scheduled for this year. Just as we recently honored the importance of Earth Day, I'm more than delighted to celebrate PaintCare's one-year anniversary and their commitment to improving our environment and providing these services statewide."

Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos said, "DEC is encouraged by PaintCare's efforts during the first year implementing the Postconsumer Paint Collection Program, which resulted in the diversion of more than 700,000 gallons of leftover paint from improper landfill disposal. DEC looks forward to the continued expansion of convenient drop-off locations and other opportunities for consumers to manage their leftover paint in an environmentally responsible manner."

For more information on the PaintCare program, year-round PaintCare drop-off sites, or how to become a drop off site, please visit www.paintcare.org/NY.

PaintCare was created by the paint industry operate its successful stewardship programs across the country following passage of similar laws in California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Maine, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. New York's paint recycling program comes in the wake of a paint stewardship law that was passed by the State Legislature in 2019. Paint stewardship laws ensure that everyone involved in the production, sale and use of paint work together to manage the entire product lifecycle of paint.

The program is funded by a fee on sales of new paint and remitted to PaintCare by paint manufacturers to operate the program. The fee revenue funds all aspects of the program in each state, including paint collection, transportation, processing and public education.

Radin adds, "The American Coatings Association has invested in the right resources to make this program what it is today, and our team members and program partners have truly gone above and beyond to get the New York State paint collection program off to a great start. We're looking forward to building on this momentum."

About PaintCare
PaintCare is committed to making it easy and convenient for households and businesses to recycle postconsumer (leftover) paint in states with paint stewardship laws. A nonprofit organization created by paint manufacturers, PaintCare sets up drop-off locations for leftover paint, arranges for recycling and proper disposal, and conducts public education. More than 62 million gallons of paint, stain, and varnish have been managed by PaintCare in 10 states and the District of Columbia. For additional information, visit www.paintcare.org, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @WeRecyclePaint.

Media Contact:
Jenny LePore, The Martin Group: 585-869-1884, [email protected] 

SOURCE PaintCare