(The Center Square) – There soon could be a new option for getting rid of the half-used paint cans that are cluttering basements or garages.
The Paint Stewardship Act creates a process for consumers to dispose of household paint in Illinois. Under the law, manufacturers of architectural paint will create and submit a plan to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to establish the program.
“Quite frankly, latex paint, which most of us are using, is not a hazardous material so then the local municipality is stuck with that and they actually spend a lot of money trying to figure out what to do with that and a lot of it ends up getting landfilled,” said state Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, the bill’s sponsor.
Under the program, manufacturers will pay a fee to the Illinois EPA to set up a paint collection site, service or event, which will allow residents to drop off unused paint to specified locations free of charge. Holmes said the collection sites or events will be within a 15-mile radius for 90% of Illinois residents.
Earlier this year, New York became the 11th state to pass a paint stewardship law making the paint industry responsible for the proper disposal of unused paint. Kelsey O’Toole is the program coordinator. She said paint is reused, which keeps it out of the landfills.
“All latex paint collected is going to be turned right back into latex paint so it is separated out by color, there’s additives put in it to bring that back up to spec, then it’s repackaged and resold,” O’Toole said.
Similar programs in other states with paint stewardship laws include California, Minnesota and Colorado. Holmes said they have collected over 62 million gallons of paint.
The Illinois law goes into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
