MINNESOTA—PaintCare—the nonprofit organization that operates Minnesota’s paint stewardship program—just announced that the program has now managed more than 10 million gallons of paint, stain, and varnish from Minnesota households and businesses since the program launched in 2014.
A large part of the program’s success in Minnesota has been due to the support that PaintCare has received from participating retailers, paint professionals, household hazardous waste programs, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and households who are choosing to do their part.
“We want to thank Minnesotans for dropping off more than 10 million gallons of leftover paint since the program started in 2014. PaintCare helps keep paint out of Minnesota’s waste stream and allows us to find beneficial uses for it throughout the state,” said Jacob Saffert, PaintCare’s Director of Eastern States. “With a focus on accessibility, community engagement, and responsible waste management, PaintCare strives to make it more convenient for households and businesses to recycle paint.”
The program ensures the paint is managed according to “highest, best use,” meaning that as much paint as possible is reused, recycled back into paint, or put to some other beneficial use.
PaintCare is a nonprofit organization created by paint companies to manage leftover paint in states that have enacted paint stewardship laws. PaintCare makes it easy to recycle leftover paint, stain, and varnish by working with centrally located paint retail stores and locally managed government facilities and offering free on-site pickups to businesses, organizations, households, or anyone with 100 gallons of paint or more to recycle.
PaintCare’s Minnesota program recently released its 2024 annual report. Highlights include:
- More than 900,000 gallons of postconsumer collected.
- 269 year-round drop-off sites located across Minnesota.
- 98.3% of Minnesota residents live within 15 miles of a drop-off site mainly located at hardware stores, paint stores, and household hazardous waste (HHW) facilities.
- PaintCare provided 90 large volume pickups from households and businesses.
- 60% of latex paint collected was reused or made into recycled-content paint.
PaintCare drop-off sites accept all paint brands, regardless of when or at which store in Minnesota it was purchased. Items that can be dropped off for recycling include most house paints, primers, stains, sealers, and clear top coatings (varnish and shellac). Find a detailed list of accepted products at www.paintcare.org/products.
While there is no charge to drop paint off for recycling, a nominal fee is added to the price of all new paint sold in Minnesota to fund all aspects of the program.
To download photos of PaintCare, click here. For more information about the PaintCare program or to find a PaintCare drop-off site in Minnesota visit www.paintcare.org/MN.
A one-page infographic highlights the successes from the most recent reporting period for the PaintCare program in Minnesota (January to December 2024). Find complete annual reports on PaintCare’s program in Minnesota at www.paintcare.org/minnesota-official-docs/#annual-reports.
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About PaintCare in Minnesota
PaintCare is committed to making it easy and convenient for households, businesses, and institutions to recycle leftover paint in states with paint stewardship laws. A nonprofit organization created by paint companies, PaintCare sets up drop-off locations for leftover paint, arranges for recycling and proper disposal, and conducts public education. More than 10 million gallons of paint, stain, and varnish have been managed by PaintCare’s Minnesota program since its launch in 2014. For additional information, visit www.paintcare.org.