District of Columbia
Contact: Fred Gabriel, District of Columbia Program Manager, fgabriel@paint.org (202) 317-0592
Drop-Off Sites
It’s more convenient than ever to recycle paint in the District of Columbia. We have recruited paint and hardware stores to take back paint. PaintCare has set up 9 convenient locations to drop off paint throughout the District. These drop-off sites are available to any household and business in the District, and they accept paint whenever they are open for business, all year-round.
Products We Accept
Participating PaintCare drop-off locations accept the following:
- House paint and primers (latex or oil-based)
- Stains
- Deck and concrete sealers
- Clear finishes (e.g., varnishes, shellac)
Fees
PaintCare programs are funded by a fee (referred to as the PaintCare fee) which is applied to the purchase price of new paint sold in the state. The fee is paid to PaintCare by paint manufacturers and is then added to the wholesale and retail purchase price of paint, passing the cost of managing post-consumer paint to everyone who buys paint. You may see a line item on your receipt or invoice for each container of paint you purchase. There is no charge for dropping off paint at a PaintCare drop-off site. The PaintCare fee is not a tax; it does not go to the state to operate the program. The PaintCare fee is also not a deposit; you don’t get it back when you drop off paint–a common misunderstanding. Fees fund all aspects of the paint stewardship program. This includes paint collection, transportation, recycling, public outreach, and program administration, and to manage “legacy” paint, material that has been accumulating in homes and businesses from before the program started. The fees are based on container size as follows:
| Container Size | Fee |
| Half pint or smaller | $0.00 |
| Larger than half pint up to smaller than 1 gallon | $0.45 |
| 1 Gallon up to 2 gallons | $0.95 |
| Larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons | $1.95 |
Program Brochure
PaintCare’s program brochure is intended for the general public. To request free paper copies of this brochure for you or others, please contact us at 855-PAINT09. In addition to paint stores, other organizations (e.g., government agencies, real estate agents, property managers, painting contractors) are welcome to order brochures and distribute to others.
Contractors
Professional painting contractors are one of the groups most affected by PaintCare. If you are a painting contractor, please review the information below to learn more about PaintCare, the fees, and paint recycling services available from PaintCare. 
Fees and Funding
As required by District law, a paint stewardship assessment (“PaintCare Fee”) is added by manufacturers to the wholesale price of all architectural paint sold in the District. This fee is paid by manufacturers to PaintCare to fund setting up drop-off sites for leftover, postconsumer paint, and for the transportation, recycling, and proper disposal of that paint. The fees also pay for consumer education and program administrative costs. The fees for the District have been approved by the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). Fees are by container size as follows:
| Container Size | Fee |
| Half pint or smaller | $0.00 |
| Larger than half pint up to smaller than 1 gallon | $0.45 |
| 1 Gallon up to 2 gallons | $0.95 |
| Larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons | $1.95 |
Important Note:
It is expected that contractors will pass the fees on to their customers in order to recoup the fees they pay on the product. When estimating jobs, contractors should take these fees into account by checking with your suppliers to make sure the quotes for paint products include the fees. You should also let your customers know that you include these fees in your quotes.Use of Retail Drop-Off Sites by Businesses
Retail drop-off sites provide a convenient and no cost recycling option for painting contractors and other businesses. Businesses that generate less than 220 pounds of hazardous waste* per month are able to use these sites to recycle all program products (both water and oil-based) with some restrictions on quantities per month. Larger businesses (those that generate more than 220 pounds of hazardous waste per month) may use the drop-off sites for their water-based program products only; they are not able to use the sites for oil-based paint or other solvent-based products.* 220 pounds is about 20-30 gallons of paint. When counting how much hazardous waste you generate in a month, oil-based paint counts (because by law it is a hazardous waste), but latex and other water-based paint does not count toward the 220 pound monthly total.
Large Volume Pickup (LVP) Service
If you have a large amount of unwanted paint, PaintCare offers door-to-door pick-up service that benefits both contractors and our volunteer drop-off sites. This free service is available to households or businesses with at least 200 gallons of paint.
- LVP Fact Sheet
- LVP Fact Sheet (Spanish/Español)
- Request a pick up: LVP Form
- Access the form in opens in a new windowPDF or Excel formats
Already a Drop-Off Site?
Let your customers know that you are a paint drop-off location! Visit our Drop-Off Site Promotion Toolkit for artwork for digital advertising, social media, or print advertising. You can also order free point-of-sale (POS) materials or signage for your business or organization.
- Drop-Off Site Promotion Toolkit. Use these digital and print ad templates to promote your store as a PaintCare drop-off site on a website, in social media, or in a print newspaper or other publication.
- Order signs and point-of-sale materials.
- Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Responsibilities of All Retailers
The District of Columbia Paint Stewardship Law requires retailers of paint to include the PaintCare Fee in the sale price of program products and only sell products registered with the program. More details are provided here: a. Add Assessment Fee: Manufacturers must add the PaintCare Fees to their wholesale price of each container of paint. Retailers must ensure these fees are passed down to the consumer. The fees for the District have been approved by the Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). Fees are by container size as follows:
b. Sell Registered Brands: Retailers must make sure they do not sell unregistered architectural paint brands. Retailers can verify the registration of manufacturers and brands using the following lists which are updated regularly. If you are a retailer and do not see a manufacturer or brand of paint sold in your store on these lists, please contact PaintCare at (855) 724-6809.
| Container Size | Fee |
| Half pint or smaller | $0.00 |
| Larger than half pint up to smaller than 1 gallon | $0.45 |
| 1 Gallon up to 2 gallons | $0.95 |
| Larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons | $1.95 |
Publications for Your Customers
- Program Brochure (“Recycle with PaintCare”) available in Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Farsi, French, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Lao, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Somalia, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Vietnamese
- Fact Sheet: Painting Contractors available in Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
- Mini Card (Find a paint drop-off site) available in Spanish
- Fact Sheet: Large Volume Pick-Up Service, also available in Spanish
- General Poster for Retailers This poster is intended for use in stores in the paint department or near the cash registers to help explain the PaintCare program and Fees to customers.
- Leftover Paint Receipt Form Use this receipt if someone dropping off paint asks for one. (Some county or city inspectors ask businesses to show receipts to demonstrate that they disposed or recycled of their paint.)
- Mini Card (“Find a paint drop-off site”) available in Spanish.
- Leftover Paint Receipt Form Use this receipt if someone dropping off paint asks for one. (Some county or city inspectors ask businesses to show receipts to demonstrate that they disposed or recycled of their paint.)
Publications for Your Employees
- Fact Sheet: Paint Retailers Informs all paint retailers in District of their responsibilities under the paint stewardship program.
- Fact Sheet: Paint Reuse Stores Informs all reuse stores of their responsibilities under the paint stewardship program.
- Fact Sheet: PaintCare Fees Answers to common questions from retailers about fees.
- Fact Sheet: Mistints Answers to common questions from retailers about mistints, damaged, spoiled, and obsolete paint.
Partnering with PaintCare to Be a Drop-Off Site
Fact Sheet: How to Become a Drop-Off Site. Explains the responsibilities for paint retailers that volunteer to take back leftover paint from the public.
click to play video
Retailers may volunteer to be a paint drop-off site and accept paint from households and certain businesses in their community. To learn more about what is involved in becoming a drop-off site, please read the above fact sheet. If you would like to be a drop-off site, please fill out our opens in a new windowOnline Retailer Interest Form, or use the Word or PDF version and send by email, fax or regular mail.
2019 Infographic
This one-page infographic (8.5″x11″) highlights the successes from the most recent reporting period for the District of Columbia PaintCare Program (January 1 to December 31, 2019). Please consider downloading and printing a copy of the infographic and then posting it for staff and the public at your business or organization.
Annual Report
PaintCare prepares an annual report for the 12 months ending December 31. The first report for the District of Columbia also covers the final two months of 2016 because the program started in November 2016.
- Annual Report 2019 (January – December 2019)
- Annual Report 2018 (January – December 2018), revised April 1, 2020
- Annual Report 2017 (November 2016 – December 2017), revised March 29, 2019
Program Plan
PaintCare’s program plan for the District of Columbia was submitted to the District on April 1, 2016. This plan describes the operations, outreach, and other activities proposed for the DC Paint Stewardship Program.
- District of Columbia Paint Stewardship Plan (Submitted April 2016, revised July 2016)
Law
The District of Columbia PaintCare Program is a result of Act Number 20-501, enacted in 2015. The legislation is clarified through District regulations.
Oversight Agency
The oversight agency for the District of Columbia paint stewardship program is the opens in a new windowDistrict Department of Energy and Environment.