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Connecticut

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

Program Details

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

  • 157
    157
    Year-round drop-off sites
  • 4.5 Million
    4.5 Million
    Gallons collected (estimate)
  • July 2013
    July 2013
    Established
  • 528
    528
    Large volume pickups

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 Connecticut 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

Summary of 2024 Connecticut Annual Report


This one-page infographic highlights the successes from the most recent reporting period (January to December 2024) for the Connecticut PaintCare program. 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 Reports

State Agency

The oversight agency for the Connecticut program is the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

Program Plan

PaintCare’s program plan for Connecticut describes the operations, outreach, and other activities of the Connecticut Paint Stewardship Program:

Law

Laws relevant to the PaintCare program in Connecticut are available at https://www.jud.ct.gov/lawlib/statutes.htm

  • Connecticut General Statutes
  • Volume 8, Title 22a – Environmental Protection
  • Chapter 446z – Miscellaneous Provisions
  • Sections 22a-904 and 22a-904a Paint Stewardship Program

Evaluation Reports by Product Stewardship Institute

The Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) evaluated the effects of the PaintCare program on household hazardous waste (HHW) programs in five states that implemented paint stewardship prior to September 2014: California, Connecticut, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. This report summarizes PSI’s findings from the cross-state evaluation.

At the request of PaintCare and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, PSI evaluated performance of the first two years of the PaintCare program in Connecticut. This report summarizes PSI’s findings, based upon surveys conducted with five stakeholder groups