District of Columbia
by PaintCare | Feb 27, 2021
- Established in November 2016
- 7 year-round drop-off sites
- 259,000 gallons collected
PaintCare offers drop-off sites throughout the District of Columbia where the public can take unwanted paint for recycling. These sites are available to households, businesses, government agencies, and others with leftover paint.
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 aerosols (spray paint), leaking, unlabeled, or empty containers.
If you can’t find a paint recycling location using our site locator tool, please try our other locator tool here.
Door to Door Paint Pickup Service
Do you have more than five gallons of paint for recycling? For a limited time, PaintCare is offering a direct pickup service to District of Columbia households for leftover paint, stain, and varnish. There is no charge for the service, the cost is covered by the PaintCare fee on sales of new paint. To see if you qualify and submit a service request, visit https://paint-pickup-dc.eventbrite.com
Fee and Funding
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. 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 the District of Columbia is based on container size as follows:
$0.00
$0.30
Larger than half pint up to smaller than 1 gallon
$0.70
$1.60
Larger than 2 gallons up to 5 gallons
On January 1, 2022, a fee reduction took effect in the District of Columbia. PaintCare is offering a credit for the difference in fees before and after a fee change on inventory purchased prior to the change and sold after the change. Learn more about this fee credit at paintcare.org/fee-credit
