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Maryland

Get started by finding a drop-off site.
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Home States Maryland

Program Details

PaintCare offers drop-off sites throughout Maryland where the public can take unwanted paint for recycling. These sites are available to households, businesses, government agencies, and others with leftover paint.

Drop Off Paint

Large Volume Pickup (LVP) Service

If you have a large amount of unwanted paint (100+ gallons), PaintCare offers a free service to painting contractors, property managers, and others with large amounts of leftover architectural paint.

Learn more about LVP

Products We Accept

PaintCare sites accept house paint as well as primers, stains, sealers, and clear coatings such as shellac and varnish. Accepted products, also referred to as “PaintCare products” and “architectural coatings,” are the same ones that carry the PaintCare fee when purchased.

PaintCare accepted products

Fee and Funding

PaintCare programs are funded by a fee (referred to as the PaintCare fee) which is applied to the purchase price of each container of new paint sold in the state. There is no charge for dropping off paint at a PaintCare drop-off site. The PaintCare fee is not a tax or a deposit. The fee funds all aspects of the paint stewardship program.

For more information on the fee, visit the PaintCare Fee Page.

The fee in Maryland is based on container size as follows:

Half pint or smaller
$0.00
Larger than half pint to smaller than 1 gallon
$0.50
1-2 gallons
$1.15
Larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons
$2.25
Half pint or smaller
$0.00
Larger than half pint to smaller than 1 gallon
$0.50
1-2 gallons
$1.15
Larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons
$2.25

Official Documents

Annual Reports

State Agency

The oversight agency for the Maryland paint stewardship program is the Maryland Department of the Environment.

Program Plan

PaintCare’s program plan for Maryland was approved by the Maryland Department of the Environment on October 25, 2025. This plan describes the operations, outreach, and other activities of the Maryland Paint Stewardship Program:

Law

Laws relevant to the PaintCare program in Maryland can be found at https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/Statutes

  • Annotated Code of Maryland
  • Articles Environment – (gen)
  • Sections 9-1701(b-1), (i-1), (o-1) through (o-3), and (r-2) through (r-4), 9-1707, 9-1733 and 9-1734

Sales Tax

The Maryland Office of the Comptroller has provided an explanation of why the PaintCare Fee is subject to state sales tax in the following letter: