Drop it off
1 paint drop-off site within 12 miles.
- City of Helena Latex Paint Exchange · City of Helena Transfer StationHazardous waste site0.9 mi
Helena, MT Paint Disposal
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All drop-off locations in and near Helena2
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City of Helena Transfer Station (latex paint exchange and liquid waste rules)
1975 N Benton Ave, Helena, MT 59601
- Accepts
- No everyday hazardous waste drop-off. Liquid paint and solvents are taken only at special events. Usable latex paint is taken during the city’s latex paint exchange. Outside events, the city says to air-dry or harden paint and solvents in sand, dirt or kitty litter, double-bag it, and dispose of it as trash.
- Who can use it
- Helena and Scratch Gravel district households with a residential permit. Only permit holders can drop off at the paint exchange, and no business or hauler paint. East Helena residents can’t get a permit and pay cash.
- Hours
- Disposal every day, 8 a.m.–4:15 p.m.; all vehicles must be out by 4:30 p.m. Office Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. The city’s 2026 list closes the station on Veterans Day (Nov. 11), Election Day, Thanksgiving (Nov. 26) and Christmas (Dec. 25), and on New Year’s Day 2027.
- Load limits
- Exchange: usable latex only, no oil-based paint, solvents, stains or other liquids. A residential permit covers 3,000 pounds a year (July 1–June 30). Motor oil and antifreeze: 5 gallons a day.
- Fees
- No charge for permit holders until they pass 3,000 pounds. Cash customers pay $7 for up to 200 pounds and $64.75 a ton above that (the main Solid Waste page still shows an older $6 and $56.75).
Bring the permit itself; the city says pictures of permits aren’t accepted. Scale: 406-447-8082, option 3. The city gives two recycling-line numbers: 406-447-8084 on its Solid Waste page and 406-447-8094 on its Allowable Waste page and spring 2026 exchange notice.
1 paint drop-off site within 12 miles of Helena.
Your state doesn’t have a PaintCare program, so stores here don’t take paint for free. These are the public drop-off programs PaintCare’s map lists, closest first. Most only serve their own residents and some charge a fee. Call before you go.
City of Helena Latex Paint Exchange · City of Helena Transfer Station
0.9 mi1975 Benton Ave, Helena, MT 59601
- Who
- Households Only (No Businesses) in Helena
- Hours
- Spring: April 22 - May 6, 2026 8 am - 415pm. Fall: Wednesday, September 23 - Wednesda, October 7, 2026. 8 am - 4:15pm.
- Limits
- Bring only usable latex paint to this event.
- Products
- This site does not accept empty, dry or leaking or unlabeled paint containers, oil-based or aerosol paints.
- Notes
- Solid waste permit holders may drop off and pick up usable latex paint. Pick-up availaility will depend on drop-off participation.
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 Helena cleanout?4
You have good latex you’d rather not trash
Store it indoors so it doesn’t freeze and bring it to the spring 2027 exchange if you hold a residential permit. Montana DEQ says latex that has frozen may not be usable.
You’re clearing out oil-based stain and thinner
There’s no everyday drop-off. Mix it with sand or kitty litter until solid, double-bag it, and dispose of it as trash. Call 406-447-8084 to ask about any upcoming special event.
You rent in the city
Ask your landlord. The city says solid waste fees are paid through property taxes, and a non-owner needs the owner’s signed authorization form plus photo ID to get a permit. Renters in a fourplex or smaller can get a renters recycling permit, but the city doesn’t say it covers the paint exchange.
You live in the Scratch Gravel area
Scratch Gravel district households can get a residential permit; call 406-447-8086. With it, you can use the paint exchange like city residents.
Helena rules and tips5
THE LOCAL ANSWER
Dry or harden leftover paint with sand, dirt or kitty litter, double-bag it, and dispose of it as trash at the Helena Transfer Station or with your garbage. That’s the city’s rule outside special events. Save good latex for the next latex paint exchange, which the city lists for spring 2027 and opens only to residential permit holders.
Helena, Montana (Lewis and Clark County) has no everyday paint drop-off. The City of Helena Transfer Station, 1975 N Benton Ave., takes usable latex only during its latex paint exchange, and the city says to dry or harden other paint and solvents and throw them away. The fall 2026 exchange has ended; the city lists the next one in spring 2027. Montana has no PaintCare program.
The paint exchange runs twice a year, for two weeks
Permit holders drop off usable latex in a marked area during regular hours, and the city says the paint is then free for other residents to pick up, though pick-up depends on what people bring. The recycling page says anyone taking part must be a residential permit holder. The spring 2026 exchange ran April 22–May 6. PaintCare’s listing gave fall dates of Sept. 23–Oct. 7, 2026, which have passed. The city now lists the next exchange for spring 2027. Oil-based paint, solvents and stains were never taken.
Oil-based paint gets hardened too
The city says paints, solvents and other liquids are taken only at certain special events. Otherwise, air-dry them or solidify them in sand or kitty litter and double-bag them. Montana DEQ also says a store-bought hardener works for oil-based paint.
Bring the permit card, not a photo
Helena and Scratch Gravel homeowners get a residential permit that covers 3,000 pounds a year. The city won’t accept a picture of a permit. The permits page says a lost permit costs $10 to replace since Sept. 1, 2026 (an older FAQ still says $5). East Helena residents can’t get one and pay as cash customers.
The old hazardous waste day isn’t on the city’s pages now
A KTVH story from 2019 (per the page’s publish data) described a city hazardous waste day at the Transfer Station for permit holders, taking oil-based paint and stains but not latex. The city’s current pages list no such day, only unnamed ‘special events.’ Call 406-447-8084 to ask if one is planned.
Fall closures
The Transfer Station is closed on Veterans Day (Nov. 11), on Election Day, on Thanksgiving (Nov. 26) and on Christmas (Dec. 25). Everyone must be unloaded and out by 4:30 p.m.
Free pickup programs and other options
Montana has no PaintCare program and Helena has no permanent hazardous waste site. Montana DEQ suggests mixing latex with clay cat litter (two parts litter to one part paint) or a hardener, offering good paint to friends, neighbors or a painting contractor, and asking charities such as Habitat for Humanity whether they take paint. Businesses and haulers can’t use the paint exchange.
Getting your paint ready
For the exchange, bring only usable latex in labeled, closed cans; no empty, dry, leaking or unlabeled cans, and no oil-based or spray paint. For disposal, harden the paint fully, then double-bag it. Have your residential permit with you at the scale.
Full preparation checklist →Helena questions5
Does Helena have a hazardous waste drop-off for paint?
Not year-round. The Transfer Station takes liquid paint only at special events. Outside those, the city says to dry or harden paint and throw it away.
When is the next latex paint exchange?
The city’s recycling page lists the next one for spring 2027. The spring 2026 exchange ran April 22–May 6, and the fall 2026 dates have passed.
Can I bring oil-based paint to the exchange?
No. Oil-based paint, solvents, stains and other liquids aren’t taken. Harden them with sand or kitty litter and double-bag them.
I live in East Helena. Can I use the Transfer Station?
Yes, but only as a cash customer: $7 for up to 200 pounds. East Helena residents can’t get a residential permit, so they can’t drop off at the paint exchange.
Who do I call with questions?
The Transfer Station office at 406-447-8086, or the recycling line at 406-447-8084.
Sources and how we checked8
October 16, 2026: read the City of Helena Solid Waste, Recycling and Permits pages, the spring 2026 and spring 2025 exchange notices, a KTVH story on a city hazardous waste day (no year in the text; the page’s metadata dates it Aug. 21, 2019, so we use it only as history), Montana DEQ’s used-paint handout and PaintCare’s locator (Helena exchange listed as a non-program reuse site with fall dates of Sept. 23–Oct. 7, 2026). Unresolved: the city recycling page calls the next event the ‘annual Fall’ exchange but dates it spring 2027. We found no 2026 city hazardous waste day for oil-based paint, and no Lewis and Clark County program; the KTVH event is from 2019. Recycling-line numbers differ across city pages (406-447-8084 on the Solid Waste page; 406-447-8094 on the Allowable Waste page and spring 2026 notice). The Solid Waste page FAQ still lists a $5 permit replacement, a $6 minimum and $56.75 a ton; the permits page lists $10 (from Sept. 1, 2026), $7 and $64.75, which we use. We didn’t find a Helena store that publishes a paint donation policy.
Checked October 16, 2026 against these sources, not by phone. How we research.
City of Helena: Solid Waste and Transfer Station ↗City of Helena: Recycling (latex paint exchange) ↗City of Helena: Transfer Station permits, rates and allowable waste ↗City of Helena: Spring 2026 latex paint exchange (April 16, 2026) ↗City of Helena: latex paint exchange (April 3, 2025) ↗KTVH: City of Helena collecting household hazardous waste (Aug. 2019, per page metadata) ↗Montana DEQ: What should I do with used paint? ↗PaintCare drop-off site locator ↗
