Tips to Recycle Paint in New Jersey

Thousands of cans of wall paint are purchased every year for exterior or interior decorating. Sometimes, the paint is used up, but often there are leftovers. Usually, if this is the case, these half-used cans find their way to the back of the garage or storage shed and are never seen or thought of again (until it’s time to do a little spring cleaning). But these cans of wall paint create clutter, accidental spills and are just an all-around hassle. Instead of disposing of the paint color, consider recycling the wall paint instead! This avoids the potential for unnecessary waste, but also allows your paint color to live a new life.

Here are a few painting tips for recycling:

• Donate it. This is one of the easiest things to do in order to get rid of extra paint. Donate wall paint to amateur painters such as friends, family members or organizations (church or a club, for example). You can always offer your extra wall paint to an online recycle program such as freerecycle.org, or list it on a neighborhood social networking site like nextdoor.com. These websites allow you to search locally, making it easier than ever to donate to a fellow New Jersey resident.
• Recycle it. New Jersey does not currently have a paint stewardship program but that doesn’t mean options aren’t available if you’d like to recycle your paint. Passaic County has household waste collection programs that will happily take your old or unused paint color. Other surrounding counties in northern New Jersey such as Bergen and Essex Counties also have programs available.
• Buy just enough. This is probably the hardest way to avoid having extra paint color on your hands. Generally, painters would rather have extra than not enough. If painters run out of paint, then it slows them down having to leave and get more. Plan ahead and consider how much paint is necessary for the job. Not sure? Contact the crew of professional painters at Spectrum Painting and they’ll be able to help you.
• Save for later use. Many painters will save any extra paint in case they need to touch up walls in the future. This is a great painting tip if you only have a small amount left over. Obviously if you have more than necessary, the three listed above will be more helpful. But if you have just a little left, seal the bucket properly and store it in a cool, dry place. That way, if there is a new interior decorating idea that pops into your head, or you simply need to touch up a scuff or scratch, you’ve got the wall paint on hand.

If you come across cans of paint that you want to get rid of, don’t hesitate to recycle them or give them away! The painting tips above are great ways to utilize your leftovers in the best way possible. Don’t have leftover wall paint, but you want more information on paint color and interior decorating ideas? Call the painters at Spectrum Painting for more information. They’ll be able to answer your questions and help you get started with your next painting job today! Call us at 973-706-6033 to set up an estimate.