Paint recycling
in New Hampshire.
Paint disposal in Manchester and Portsmouth. New Hampshire has no free paint recycling program, so you dry latex paint for the trash and save oil-based paint for your town’s household hazardous waste day.
Check your local rules.
New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) says to dry out latex paint, using cat litter, sawdust or cardboard scraps for bigger amounts, and throw it away once solid. It suggests checking with your transfer station or hauler. Full cans of good paint can go to Habitat for Humanity. Oil-based paint, stain and varnish are hazardous and belong at a household hazardous waste collection. NHDES grants help pay for more than 60 collection events a year. The New Hampshire events on PaintCare’s locator are mostly one-day events for residents of the host towns, and they don’t take latex. Some towns add their own rules: Manchester charges $4 a can for wet latex at its Drop Off Facility, and Portsmouth wants hardened latex brought to its Recycling Center instead of the curb. Questions go to the NHDES household hazardous waste program at 603-271-2047.
No free state program.
New Hampshire 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.
2 cities
Manchester ↗
In Manchester, New Hampshire, latex paint goes to the city’s Drop Off Facility on Dunbarton Road. Residents need a $5 yearly permit; dried-out latex is then free and wet latex costs $4 a can. Oil-based paint, stain and thinner only go to the city’s free household hazardous waste days, held on the second Saturdays of May and October. New Hampshire has no PaintCare program, so paint stores won’t take cans back.
Checked October 13, 2026New HampshirePortsmouth ↗
In Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the city’s Department of Public Works on Peverly Hill Road handles leftover paint two ways. Latex paint has to be hardened all the way through and brought to the Recycling Center, not set out at the curb. Oil-based and lead-based paint go to Household Hazardous Waste Day, and the fall 2026 event is Saturday, Oct. 24, 8 a.m. to noon. New Hampshire has no PaintCare program.
Checked October 13, 2026Spray 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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