How to Dispose of Paint

The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne would like to inform the community of the proper way to dispose of paint and paint cans. Recently, a well-intentioned individual attempted to dispose of a paint can with the rest of their recyclable materials. However, the paint leaked and contaminated all of the other materials that were to be recycled. As a result the materials had to be disposed of at a landfill and not recycled.

MCA is reminding the community that wet paint is strictly prohibited from being disposed of with the regular trash or recyclables until it has dried out.

Recycling paint is easy!

If you have wet paint that needs to be removed please follow one of the following processes:

• Donate the excess paint to Habitat for Humanity type operations.

• Donate to a neighbor, contractor

• Return excess paint to the supplier it was purchased from for recycling purposes

Dry paint out before disposal using one of the following methods:

• Spread out a cloth, plastic, or newspaper, pour paint on it and let dry.

• If paint is minimal, open can and let paint dry out in can. Paint can must be open, dry with no lid on it for disposal.

Once paint has dried out, the material it is on can be bagged and placed in the solid waste stream. All paint cans must be dry and lids must be removed.

Any spray cans of paint can be disposed of within the recycling program as long as the paint can has been used up and has no pressure left in it. Simply use the paint up, depress the nozzle until all pressure has escaped and then place in the recycling with the cap off the can. Alternatively the spray can type can also be returned to the supplier for recycling programs, or follow the same options as noted above.

If you have any questions regarding solid waste and recycling, please do not hesitate to contact the Dept. of Technical Services at 613-575-2250 ext. 1004 or email [email protected].