PaintCare offers drop-off sites throughout Connecticut where the public can take unwanted paint for recycling. These sites are available to households, businesses, government agencies, and others with leftover paint.
- Established in July 2013
- 159 year-round drop-off sites
- 4.2 million gallons collected (estimate)
Enter your zip code, city and state, or street address to find the nearest, most convenient paint drop-off site to you. All PaintCare sites accept up to 5 gallons per visit (some take more). Please call ahead to confirm business hours and ask if they can accept the type and amount of paint you would like to recycle. Sites do not accept aerosol coatings, leaking, unlabeled, or empty containers.
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 Connecticut is based on container size as follows:
$0.00
$0.35
Larger than half pint up to smaller than 1 gallon
$0.75
$1.60
Larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons
An increase on the fee assessed on the sale of architectural coatings in the Connecticut PaintCare program was approved by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and will take effect January 1, 2026.
The new fee in Connecticut will be based on container size as follows:
$0.00
$0.50
Larger than half pint up to smaller than 1 gallon
$1.15
$2.25
Larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons
