Painting contractors and residents in the Pine Tree State will be able to recycle leftover and unwanted paint beginning Oct. 1.

That’s the word from PaintCare officials, who announced that the Maine Department of Environmental Protection officially approved their product stewardship program plan in August.

The coatings industry supported program currently operates in seven states across the country. Nine states have adopted legislation to establish the program.

PaintCare

Retailers serve as drop-off sites for unwanted and leftover architectural paint.

Created by the American Coatings Association, PaintCare is a non-profit organization tasked with working with state and local government officials to develop paint recycling programs.

The organization, based in Washington, D.C., helps line up drop-off sites, conducts public outreach and education, and operates on-going programs in states that pass legislation for the recycling of post-consumer paint.

ME Program Details

Maine passed the legislation required to bring the law to the state in July 2013.

Officials note that the program is funded by a nominal fee added to the purchase price of paint at retailers throughout the state. The fees are based on container size: 35¢ for pints and quarts, 75¢ for 1-gallon cans, $1.60 for a 5-gallon buckets.

Numerous paint retailers around the state will participate as drop-off sites, officials say.

“The movement of recycling post-consumer paint across the nation has been tremendous, and we’re excited to soon be launching our program in Maine,” PaintCare Executive Director Marjaneh Zarrehparvar said in a statement.

“We’re looking forward to helping keep paint out of the waste stream in Maine, and working together with hardware stores, paint retailers and others across the state to make responsible paint recycling as easy and as readily available as possible to all Mainers,” she added.