PaintCare Maine: Paint Recycling Made Easy!

Drop-Off Sites

It’s more convenient than ever to recycle paint in Maine. Since the start of the Maine paint stewardship program in October 2015, PaintCare has set up 122 convenient locations to drop off paint throughout the state. Most of these sites are at paint retailers (paint, hardware, and home improvement stores) that have volunteered to take back paint, and they are available to any household and business in Maine. These stores accept paint whenever they are open for business.

man carrying leftover paint cans in a hardware store

Some PaintCare drop-off sites are household hazardous waste programs, either facilities or “round-up events.” These programs are run by local county or city government agencies, often in partnership with the local garbage and recycling company or transfer station. In addition to paint, these programs usually accept other hazardous wastes such as pesticides or solvents.

Most government programs limit participation to households in certain cities or towns. Some also allow businesses to make appointments during during special hours. Businesses are usually charged fees for non-paint hazardous waste, and sometimes they are charged an administrative fee to schedule an appointment. However, they are not charged for paint on a per gallon basis if the agency is a PaintCare partner.

A few restrictions apply: there are limits on how much paint can be dropped off per visit. Also, note that certain businesses–those that produce more than 220 pounds (about 20-30 gallons) of hazardous waste per month–can only drop off latex paint (they may not drop off oil-based paint). When you decide it’s time to recycle your paint, please call the site ahead of time to confirm their hours and to make sure they have space to accept the amount of paint you would like to recycle.

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)

The architectural paint products we accept are referred to as “PaintCare Products” and must be in containers that are no larger than 5 gallons in size. PaintCare Products must be in their original container with original manufacturer label and secure lid. PaintCare does not accept spray paint (aerosols) or anything in containers larger than 5 gallons. We cannot accept open or leaking cans. Please review our detailed list of opens in a new windowPaintCare Products vs. Non-PaintCare Products.

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.

Sales tax is not applied to the PaintCare fee in Maine. 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	$0.35
1 Gallon	$0.75
Larger than 1 gallon up to 5 gallons	$1.60

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.

man carrying leftover paint cans in a hardware store

Fees and Funding

As required by state law, a paint stewardship assessment (“PaintCare Fee”) must be added by manufacturers to the wholesale price of all architectural paint sold in the state. 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. Sales tax is not applied to the PaintCare fee in Maine.

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	$0.35
1 Gallon	$0.75
Larger than 1 gallon up to 5 gallons	$1.60

Business Limits

To use the PaintCare program for oil-based paint, a business must qualify as an exempt generator under federal and any analogous state hazardous waste generator rules. Please visit www.paintcare.org/VSQG for more information on exempt generator rules. If your business does not qualify as an exempt generator, it will not be able to use the program for oil-based paint, but it can still use the program for latex products.

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.

Download/Print

Information for painting contractors is available below.

English

French

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.

PaintCare provides exempt generator certification forms to drop-off sites to be signed by all businesses and organizations that drop off oil-based paint or other solvent based program products. Signing the form is not necessary for those with only latex or water based program products. The form was updated in August 2017 due to changes to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Download the current form here: Exempt Generator Certification Form

Not a drop-off site, but are interested in becoming one? Please see the information in the Partnering with PaintCare section at the bottom of this page.

Responsibilities of All Retailers

The Maine 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. (Retailers may also volunteer to become a drop-off site – see fact sheet below). 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. Effective December 1, 2018, sales tax is not applied to the PaintCare Fee in Maine. Fees are by container size and are as follows:

Container Size	Fee
Half pint or smaller	$0.00
Larger than half pint up to smaller than 1 gallon	$0.35
1 Gallon	$0.75
Larger than 1 gallon up to 5 gallons	$1.60

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 so we can contact them to help get them registered.

Webinars for Retailers

PaintCare held a series of online Webinars on May 12 and June 16, 2015. These Webinars discussed Maine’s Paint Stewardship Law and the role of paint retailers.

To view slides from these presentations click here.

Publications for Your Customers

Brochures and other printed materials are available to retailers and facilities at no charge. Order additional materials online, or place an order by calling PaintCare at (855) 724-6809 or by sending a completed form by email, fax, or regular mail.

Order Form for Brochures and Other Printed Materials (PDF) Also in Word

The following materials are available:

Program Brochure (“Recycle with PaintCare”)
Fact Sheet: Painting Contractors
Mini Card (Find a paint drop-off site). 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.)

Publications for Your Employees

Fact Sheet: Paint Retailers Informs all paint retailers in Maine 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).

Partner with PaintCare

PaintCare welcomes partnerships with municipal agencies, especially those that operate household hazardous waste collection programs, landfills, and transfer stations. PaintCare covers the cost of paint storage bins, paint transportation and recycling, and public outreach and education. There is no monetary compensation for operations or labor costs associated with serving as a drop-off site. To learn more, please see the following fact sheets and interest forms. For municipal agencies that wish to offer services to PaintCare in addition to serving as a drop-off site, monetary compensation may be negotiated. These services include reprocessing paint at your site, bulking paint in situations where storage space is limited, offering usable paint in original containers to the public (“Reuse Program”), and transportation from municipal-owned satellite locations (e.g., landfills) to a main site. Read more about becoming a PaintCare drop-off location:

Fact Sheet for HHW Programs, If you would like to partner with PaintCare, please fill out our opens in a new windowOnline HHW Program Interest Form (or use the Word or PDF version and send by email, fax or regular mail).
Fact Sheet for Transfer Stations and Recycling Centers. If you would like to partner with PaintCare, please fill out our opens in a new windowOnline Interest Form (or use the Word or PDF version and send by email, fax or regular mail).

Watch our video about becoming a PaintCare drop-off location:

Joint Outreach Projects

Municipalities that have contracts with PaintCare may request partial funding for pre-approved joint outreach activities with PaintCare to promote PaintCare drop-off sites and events. Past projects have included newspaper advertising, direct mail, and radio campaigns. For details, please read the following fact sheet.

Fact Sheet: Joint Outreach Projects
Proposal Form (Word). Form also available as PDF

Reuse Pricing

PaintCare encourages household hazardous waste programs, reuse stores and others to operate paint reuse programs (i.e., swap shops or exchanges). Reuse programs return good quality unused paint to the local community at low or no cost. Reuse is a preferred method of waste management. To encourage reuse, PaintCare compensates paint drop-off sites operating a reuse program under a contract with PaintCare.

Fact Sheet: Reuse Pricing

Summary of 2020 Maine Annual Report

This one-page infographic (8.5″x11″) highlights the successes from the most recent reporting period for the Maine PaintCare Program (July 2019 to June 2020). 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 June 30. The first report for Maine covers 9 months because the program started in October 2015.

Annual Report 2020 (July 2019 – June 2020)
Annual Report 2019 (July 2018 – June 2019), revised March 20, 2020
On January 21, 2020, PaintCare hosted a public webinar to review the 2019 Annual Reports for its programs in Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont. A recording of the webinar is available here.
Annual Report 2018 (July 2017 – June 2018)
Annual Report 2017 (July 2016 – June 2017)
Annual Report 2016 (October 2015 – June 2016)

Program Plan

PaintCare’s program plan for Maine was approved in August 2015. this plan describes the operations, outreach, and other activities proposed for the Maine Paint Stewardship Program.

Maine Paint Stewardship Plan (June 2015)
On January 1, 2019, PaintCare transitioned the Stewardship Organization in Maine to PaintCare Maine LLC as described in a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection of the State of Maine (September 14, 2018)

Law

The Maine paint stewardship program is required by the Maine Paint Product Stewardship Law (July 2, 2013).

State Agency

The oversight agency for the Maine paint stewardship program is the opens in a new windowMaine Department of Environmental Protection.

Sales Tax

Sales tax is not applied to the PaintCare Fee in Maine. To review the law that exempts the fee from sales and use tax, visit the Maine State Legislature’s opens in a new windowwebsite.

The Maine 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. These fees are used to fund all aspects of the paint stewardship program: paint collection, transportation, recycling, public outreach, and program administration.

Maine