Drop it off free
3 free paint drop-off sites within 12 miles.
- E L Spear Inc Lumber and HardwarePaint store1.7 mi
- Sherwin-WilliamsPaint store1.7 mi
- St. George Transfer StationPaint store11.3 mi
Rockland, ME Paint Disposal
Everything you need to get rid of leftover paint responsibly in Rockland.
NOW AVAILABLE IN ROCKLAND
Paint recycling pickup. Book online.
Book a pickup $89 minimum · No next-day surcharge
All drop-off locations in and near Rockland6
Start with these
E.L. Spear Lumber and Hardware, Payne Avenue (PaintCare site)
10 Payne Avenue, Rockland, ME 04841
- Accepts
- Latex and oil-based house paint, primer, stain and varnish in containers up to 5 gallons.
- Who can use it
- Maine households and businesses, per PaintCare.
- Hours
- Store hours, per PaintCare. Call ahead to check hours and room.
- Load limits
- 5 gallons per visit.
- Fees
- PaintCare lists it as a free drop-off. The Owls Head–South Thomaston–Thomaston transfer station page says E.L. Spear takes paint "for a fee". Ask the store before you go.
No spray cans, unlabeled, leaking or empty containers. Maine DEP asks you not to leave paint at the door after hours.
Sherwin-Williams, Park Street (PaintCare site)
96 Park Street, Rockland, ME 04841
- Accepts
- Latex and oil-based house paint, primer, stain and varnish in containers up to 5 gallons.
- Who can use it
- Maine households and businesses, per PaintCare.
- Hours
- Store hours, per PaintCare. Call ahead to check hours and room.
- Load limits
- 5 gallons per visit.
- Fees
- Free, per PaintCare and the Owls Head–South Thomaston–Thomaston transfer station page.
No spray cans or unlabeled, leaking or empty containers. Paint from other states isn't allowed in Maine's program.
Rockland Transfer Station (city hazardous waste day site)
400 Limerock Street, Rockland, ME 04841
- Accepts
- On the collection day: oil and latex paint, stain, thinner, strippers, solvents, varnish, glue, fuels, pesticides, pool chemicals, aerosols with product left, and similar household chemicals (2025 list). The city's regular transfer station pages don't list paint as a year-round item.
- Who can use it
- Rockland residents only, with a transfer station sticker or proof of residency. No commercial or industrial waste.
- Hours
- Transfer station: Tuesday–Saturday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.; closed December 24 and 25. Hazardous waste, including paint, is taken only on the city's once-a-year collection day. A Pen Bay Pilot news item dated July 22, 2026 put the 2026 day on Saturday, August 15, 9 a.m.–noon. That day has passed. (The 2025 day was Saturday, July 19.)
- Load limits
- Paint must be in original containers of 5 gallons or less. Each resident gets one free unit (5 gallons or 20 pounds) of hazardous waste; latex paint and other house paint don't count toward it (2025 rules).
- Fees
- Free for the first unit and for house paint; $25 per extra unit (2025 rules).
The 2026 day has passed and no 2027 date was posted when we checked. We didn't find the city's own 2026 notice, so the 2026 date rests on the news item. No asbestos, medical waste, PCB ballasts, thermometers or thermostats. Questions: transferstation@rocklandmaine.gov.
3 PaintCare drop-off sites within 12 miles of Rockland.
5 paint stores and 0 hazardous waste sites, closest first. Paint stores take house paint, stain and varnish, usually up to a set amount per visit. Hazardous waste sites also take chemicals like thinner, but some only serve local residents. Call before you go.
Rules most stores here share
Who: Households and Businesses in Maine
Hours: Paint is accepted during regular business hours. Call ahead for hours and to make sure the store can accept the amount and type of paint you would like to recycle.
Products: This site accepts latex and oil-based house paint, stains and varnish in containers up to 5 gallons in size. This site does not accept aerosols (spray paint or other spray products), containers without original labels, or containers that are leaking. This site will accept empty containers.
Each listing below shows only what’s different, plus its limit.
E L Spear Inc Lumber and Hardware
1.7 mi10 Payne Ave, Rockland, ME 04841
- Limits
- Limit: 5 gallons per visit.
- Products
- This site accepts latex and oil-based house paint, stains and varnish in containers up to 5 gallons in size. This site does not accept aerosols (spray paint or other spray products), containers without original labels, or containers that are leaking or empty.
Sherwin-Williams
1.7 mi96 Park St, Rockland, ME 04841
- Limits
- Limit: 5 gallons per visit.
- Products
- This site accepts latex and oil-based house paint, stains and varnish in containers up to 5 gallons in size. This site does not accept aerosols (spray paint or other spray products), containers without original labels, or containers that are leaking or empty.
St. George Transfer Station
11.3 mi176 Wallston Rd, St. George, ME 04860
- Who
- Households Only (No Businesses) in St George
- Hours
- Tuesday-Saturday 8am-4pm
- Limits
- Limit: 5 gallons per visit.
- Notes
- St George residents only
Waldoboro Transfer Station
15.1 mi885 N Nobleboro Rd, Waldoboro, ME 04572
- Who
- Households Only (No Businesses) in Cushing Friendship Waldoboro
- Hours
- Tuesday-Saturday 10am - 4pm
- Limits
- Limit: 5 gallons per visit.
- Notes
- Residents of Waldoboro, Friendship, and Cushing.
Nobleboro Transfer Station
17.2 mi25 Transfer Ln, Nobleboro, ME 04555
- Who
- Households Only (No Businesses) in Bremen Damariscotta Jefferson Newcastle Nobleboro
- Hours
- Tuesday-Saturday 8am - 3:50pm
- Limits
- Limit: 5 gallons per visit.
From PaintCare’s drop-off map ↗, updated October 6, 2026. Hours and limits are PaintCare’s. Distances are straight-line, not driving.
Which option fits your Rockland cleanout?4
You have paint plus thinner and you live in the South End
Take the paint to a PaintCare store now. Hold the thinner for Rockland's next yearly day, or take it to Riverside in Portland, which charges per gallon for non-paint waste.
You live in Camden or Rockport
Your hazardous waste day is at Mid-Coast Solid Waste, 90 Union Street, Rockport; 2026's was June 7, at $18 per unit. Solidified latex is taken there all year.
You live in Owls Head, South Thomaston or Thomaston
Your co-op station on Buttermilk Lane takes dried paint in the hopper. Wet paint must be hardened with sawdust, kitty litter or sand first. Or use a Rockland PaintCare store.
You're a St. George or Waldoboro resident
Your own transfer station is a PaintCare site for residents: St. George on Wallston Road, Tuesday–Saturday 8–4; Waldoboro on North Nobleboro Road for Waldoboro, Friendship and Cushing, Tuesday–Saturday 10–4.
Rockland rules and tips4
THE LOCAL ANSWER
Take up to 5 gallons of house paint to Sherwin-Williams, 96 Park Street, or E.L. Spear, 10 Payne Avenue, during store hours. Call first. Rockland's 2026 hazardous waste day for thinner and chemicals was August 15, according to a Pen Bay Pilot news item, and has passed; no 2027 date is posted yet.
Rockland runs its own transfer station on Limerock Street; it isn't part of Mid-Coast Solid Waste, which serves Camden, Rockport, Hope and Lincolnville. The city takes paint and chemicals only on one hazardous waste day a year; a local news item put 2026's on August 15, which has passed. Year-round, two Rockland PaintCare stores take house paint.
Rockland isn't a Mid-Coast Solid Waste town
Mid-Coast Solid Waste in Rockport serves Camden, Rockport, Hope and Lincolnville only. Its 2026 hazardous waste day, Sunday, June 7, was for those four towns. Rockland residents use the Limerock Street station.
Paint was free at Rockland's 2025 day; chemicals were by the unit
Under the 2025 rules (the city didn't post 2026 rules), each resident got one free unit (5 gallons or 20 pounds) of hazardous waste. Latex and other house paint was free and didn't count. Extra units cost $25. Bring your sticker or proof of residency, and check the rules again before the next day.
E.L. Spear and the fee question
PaintCare lists E.L. Spear as a free drop-off. The Owls Head–South Thomaston–Thomaston transfer station page says E.L. Spear charges a fee and Sherwin-Williams doesn't. Ask E.L. Spear before you go.
The swap shop isn't for paint
Wink's Place at the transfer station takes reusable household items on occasional Saturdays. Its list of things it won't take includes liquids, so don't bring leftover paint there.
Free pickup programs and other options
Neighbors have their own options: St. George's transfer station takes paint from St. George residents, and Waldoboro's takes it from Waldoboro, Friendship and Cushing residents. For chemicals between Rockland's days, Mid-Coast Solid Waste points to the Maine Environmental Depot and Riverside Recycling in Portland, which takes any Maine household's waste on first Saturdays, April to November. With 100+ gallons, ask PaintCare for a free pickup.
Getting your paint ready
Keep paint in original labeled cans of 5 gallons or less, lids tight. Don't bring empty or leaking cans. For the city's day, pack chemicals by type, count your units and bring a transfer station sticker or proof of address.
Full preparation checklist →Rockland questions5
When is Rockland's next hazardous waste day?
A Pen Bay Pilot news item put the 2026 day on Saturday, August 15, 9 a.m.–noon; it has passed. No 2027 date was posted when we checked. Call 207-594-5414 or watch the city's news page.
Can I bring paint to the Limerock Street station on a normal day?
The city's transfer station pages don't list paint. Paint is taken on the yearly hazardous waste day; other times, use a PaintCare store.
I live in Owls Head or Thomaston. Can I use Rockland's day?
No. Rockland's day is for Rockland residents only. Your co-op transfer station says to take paint to E.L. Spear or Sherwin-Williams, or dry it and put it in the hopper.
Is paint from my contractor accepted?
Not at the city's day; commercial waste is excluded. PaintCare stores take business paint within PaintCare's limits.
Can I bring paint from New Hampshire or Massachusetts?
No. Maine DEP says paint from other states shouldn't come into Maine's program.
Sources and how we checked15
On October 13, 2026 we read Rockland's transfer station, permit, special item and swap shop pages, its archived 2025 hazardous waste notice, a July 22, 2026 Pen Bay Pilot notice for the 2026 day (based on a Penobscot Bay Community Health Partnerships release), Mid-Coast Solid Waste's page and 2026 brochure, the Owls Head–South Thomaston–Thomaston station page, Riverside Recycling, Maine DEP and PaintCare's locator data. We didn't find the city's own 2026 notice. The 2026 limits and fees weren't published; we use 2025's. E.L. Spear's fee status conflicts between sources.
Checked October 13, 2026 against these sources, not by phone. How we research.
City of Rockland Transfer Station ↗City of Rockland transfer station permits and fees ↗City of Rockland special item disposal ↗City of Rockland: Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day 2025 (rules) ↗Penobscot Bay Pilot: Rockland's 2026 Hazardous Waste Day (August 15) ↗City of Rockland: Wink's Place Swap Shop ↗Mid-Coast Solid Waste hazardous waste page ↗Mid-Coast Solid Waste 2026 household hazardous waste day brochure (PDF) ↗Owls Head, South Thomaston and Thomaston cooperative transfer station ↗Riverside Recycling hazardous waste days (any Maine household) ↗Maine DEP architectural paint stewardship ↗PaintCare Maine ↗PaintCare drop-off site locator ↗PaintCare business limits ↗PaintCare large-volume pickup ↗
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