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Jan 20, 2024

Paint drop

COVENTRY — Whether adding a fresh coat to a wall or getting creative with brush and canvas, it can be tough to know just how much paint a project will require. And over time, partially-empty paint

COVENTRY — Whether adding a fresh coat to a wall or getting creative with brush and canvas, it can be tough to know just how much paint a project will require. And over time, partially-empty paint containers are bound to stack up.

A free event at Coventry High School on Saturday will give community members a chance to rid themselves of paints, stains and varnishes they no longer have a use for.

“Everybody has leftover paint,” Brett Rodgers, a spokesperson for the organization running the paint drop-off event, said this week.

As paint cans collect, Rodgers added, there’s a risk that what doesn’t get used will end up in a landfill.

“Wet paint is obviously bad, we don’t want that in the landfill,” he said. “Dry paint is not necessarily harming anything, but it’s taking up space in the environment.”

Luckily, paint can be recycled — and events like the one in Coventry aim to assist people in doing just that.

Saturday’s event is an opportunity for residents to recycle any amount of latex- or oil-based house paint and primers; stains; deck and concrete sealers; and clear finishes, including varnishes and shellac. Paint must be in its original container with the manufacturer label, and the container must be sealed.

The event will be run by PaintCare, a nonprofit set up by paint manufacturers to oversee paint stewardship programs; PaintCare currently exists in Rhode Island and 10 other states with paint stewardship laws.

Passed by lawmakers in 2012, Rhode Island’s paint stewardship law, like those in other states, requires that paint manufacturers operate a statewide stewardship program. The program is funded by small fees applied to new paint purchases.

“That fee money stays in Rhode Island, pays for the program in Rhode Island,” Rodgers said.

Under Rhode Island’s program, 35 cents is added to pints and quarts; cans that hold between one and two gallons get 75 cents tacked on, and $1.60 is added to cans between two and five gallons.

Rather than tax dollars being spent on paint disposal, Rodgers added, consumers in states with paint stewardship laws help foot the bill with each paint purchase.

Much of the latex-based paint that gets recycled gets turned back into a recycled-content paint product.

“There are paint recyclers,” Rogers explained. “We get the paint collected and moved to them, and they can make something out of it that’s beneficial and keeps it on the walls and on the buildings and not necessarily in the ground.”

In addition to the occasional recycling event, there are currently nearly 30 PaintCare sites across Rhode Island that are open year-round for residents to dispose of their unwanted paints.

Locally, S & T True Value Hardware, located on Nooseneck Hill Road in Coventry, and the West Warwick Transfer Stations are both paint drop-off sites.

Those who wish to drop something off during this Saturday’s paint-recycling event, taking place between 8 a.m. and noon at Coventry High School, are asked to register ahead of time — there’s capacity for some 600 people to participate, but the spaces will likely fill fast, Rodgers said.

To register, search “Paint Drop-off Event - Coventry High School” at www.eventbrite.com, or follow the link provided on the Facebook event page.

For more information about what can and cannot be dropped off, visit the “Paint Drop-off Event - Coventry, RI” event page on Facebook.

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