Extended Producer Responsibility
As much as 10% of all household latex and oil-based paint (post-consumer paint) goes unused and may end up in the locally managed waste collection programs. Management of this waste stream has proven to be difficult for consumers and expensive for local government agencies.
The paint and coatings industry has proactively responded to this challenge by developing stewardship programs to collect leftover consumer paint and manage the end-of-life of this waste stream. These programs provide a system for the management of postconsumer architectural paint in an environmentally sound manner that may include collection, transportation, processing, recycling, and proper disposal.
These programs include Product Care Association of Canada (Product Care) several Canadian provinces, PaintCare in the United States, and Paintback in Australia. Each of these stewardship programs are tailored to the specific needs of their region and differ significantly in operations and governance. In Canada, Product Care was created by the paint industry in response to provincial extended producer regulations while other regions developed industry-led initiatives in order to address this waste stream.
Operational issues include the list of products regulated as well as the financing mechanism for the program. Governance issues include the authority to operate the program and the existence of anti-trust protection for the industry operators.
Product Care — originally started in British Columbia in 1994, Product Care is now operating in eight Canadian provinces. Over 10.3 million liters (2.7 million gallons) of paint recovered in 2023. More information about Product Care is available online at: About Us – Product Care Recycling
PaintCare — launched in Oregon in 2009 and has been adopted in 12 additional jurisdictions in the United States. To date, PaintCare has collected over 70 million gallons of paint. More information about PaintCare is available online at: https://www.paintcare.org/
Paintback — started in 2016, is an industry led post-consumer paint management program in Australia. In 2020, Paintback collected approximately 8,100 tonnes of paint and packaging, up from 6,300 tonnes in the previous year. More information about Paintback is available online at: https://www.paintback.com.au/