Paint recycling
in Hawaii.
Paint disposal in Honolulu and across the islands. Hawaii has no PaintCare program, so stores don’t take paint back, and each county sets its own rules. What you do with leftover paint depends on which island you live on.
Check your local rules.
The Hawaii Department of Health sends households to their county for disposal advice and collection events. Rules differ a lot. On Oahu, the City and County of Honolulu says to dry or absorb latex and oil paint and put it in the trash, and to save spray, lead and aluminum paint for its appointment-only hazardous waste events. Hawaii County takes oil-based paint, varnish and stain at its household collection events and runs latex paint reuse centers at the Hilo, Kea‘au and Waimea transfer stations. Kauai County doesn’t take latex at its residents-only events and says to dry or absorb it and trash it. The county events we checked on Oahu, Hawaii Island and Kauai are for households only; those counties point businesses to the Department of Health’s list of hazardous waste haulers.
No free state program.
Hawaii doesn’t have a statewide paint program, so it depends on your city or county. Each city guide shows where latex and oil-based paint can go.
1 city
Spray cans, thinner and other chemicals?
Paint stores won’t take these. Take them to your local household hazardous waste site. Your city guide lists it.
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