How to Dispose of Paint

Wherever you live, chances are you have a can of paint somewhere in your home. When the time comes to get rid of it, it is illegal in California to place it in your trash or recycling cart because of its hazardous components (e.g., volatile organic compounds, fungicides, or hazardous metals such as mercury and lead). However, you can legally and conveniently drop off your unwanted, unused paint and paint-related items at no cost to you through the PaintCare program (the program is funded by a fee on sales of new paint).

PaintCare works on behalf of paint manufacturers to plan and operate paint stewardship programs in U.S. states and in jurisdictions that pass paint stewardship laws. Product stewardship is an environmental management strategy where producers share in the responsibility for managing products at the end of their lives. If you’ve ever purchased a gallon of paint from a hardware store (in CA), you may have noticed a $0.65 fee applied at checkout. Similar to the fees applied to automotive tires and certain electronics at the time of purchase, this fee funds PaintCare’s non-profit product stewardship program. With the passage of AB 1343 in 2010, California became the first state with a permanent paint stewardship program and now has over 800 collection sites throughout the state.

There is no cost to deliver unwanted paint to PaintCare sites, and the program is open to businesses, too. Thousand Oaks has five PaintCare drop-off sites that may be found through PaintCare’s Site Locator. PaintCare sites accept house paint and primers, stains, sealers, and clear coatings (e.g., shellac and varnish), but they do not accept aerosols (spray cans), solvents, and products intended for industrial or non-architectural use. The products accepted are referred to as “PaintCare Products” or “architectural paint,” and they must be in containers that are no larger than 5 gallons in size. To be accepted at retail drop-off sites, paint must be in its original container, and the container must have the original manufacturer’s printed label and a secured lid. PaintCare sites cannot accept open, leaking, or empty cans. If you have empty cans where the paint is fully dried out (no liquid whatsoever), simply remove the lid and place in your trash cart. For a full list of acceptable and unacceptable PaintCare items, click here. It is recommended to contact a drop-off site to confirm their hours and availability prior to dropping off paint. These items can also be dropped off at the City’s Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Facility that is open from 9 AM – 1 PM on Fridays and Saturdays by appointment.

The paint you drop off is packed into larger containers (boxes or drums) by staff at the drop-off sites for pickup by a hauling company. Most of the better latex paint (paint that is not rusty, molding, or spoiled) is sent to recycling companies and reprocessed into new paint in standard pre-tinted colors. Some latex paint is used to make other products or used for alternative daily cover at landfills. Most of the oil-based paint is taken to a cement plant where it is blended into a fuel and burned to recover the energy value.

Overall, about 34% of the paint received is reused as is. Paint in excellent condition is given away at the City’s HHW Facility through the Material Reuse Program (click the “HAZARDOUS WASTE MATERIALS REUSE PROGRAM” drop-down). Non-profit ReStores (such as those operated by Habitat for Humanity) that serve as PaintCare drop-off sites also screen out usable paint and sell it in their stores.

Residents and businesses that have large volumes of old paint (100 or more gallons) can use PaintCare’s free large volume pickup service.

When it comes to that old paint can in your home, just remember that there are plenty of convenient, no-charge locations to drop it off in Thousand Oaks.