About PaintCare

PaintCare, a not-for-profit (501(C)(3)) organization, was created by the American Coatings Association (ACA), who, working with state and local government stakeholders, passed the first ever paint product stewardship law in the United States in the State of Oregon in 2009. This legislation piloted an industry-lead end-of-life management program for post-consumer paint which PaintCare was established to operate. California and Connecticut passed similar legislation in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

The ACA has supported the passage of industry managed paint product stewardship programs to find a solution to properly manage leftover consumer paint. Until recently, the only option for consumers was costly government run household hazardous waste (HHW) collection programs. Post-consumer paint can be collected for reuse, recycling, energy recovery, or safe disposal, but doing so requires public awareness and a convenient and effective infrastructure that exceeds local government budgets and capacity. The system must also be cost effective.

The industry supported laws passed in Oregon, California and Connecticut enable the paint industry to implement a collection program by providing a level playing field among manufacturers and retailers; a sustainable financing system; and an antitrust exemption for activities pursuant to the program — most notably the financing system.

The financing system is termed a paint stewardship assessment, and is paid to PaintCare by producers of architectural paint sold in participating states. The assessment must then be added to the wholesale price of paint to all distributors and retailers, and included in the final purchase price of paint to consumers (in participating states). This financing system apportions funding fairly amongst the manufacturers and retailers and is based on sales of new paint. In addition, it provides for a transparent system, where the consumer shares the responsibility for the end-of-life paint management. Financing from the system is used to set-up and run statewide systems for the collection of post-consumer paint. The collected paint is managed according to the waste management hierarchy emphasizing reuse, recycling, energy recovery and proper disposal.

For State-specific information, see: