Everything you need to get rid of leftover paint responsibly in Manchester.
500 Dunbarton Rd, Manchester, NH 03102
PaintCare’s locator lists a business rate of $8.75 a pound for dried paint, but the city’s fee guide (updated July 2026) says $0.10 a pound; go by the city’s guide and ask at the scale. The city can turn away loads that look like they came from outside Manchester.
500 Dunbarton Rd, Manchester, NH 03102
This is a once-or-twice-a-year event, not a standing drop-off. Watch manchesternh.gov/HHW for the next date before you load up.
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.
500 Dunbarton Rd, Manchester, NH 03102
500 Dunbarton Rd, Manchester, NH 03102
404 Elm St., Goffstown, NH 03045
120 High Range Rd, Londonderry, NH 03053
12 Robinson Rd, Bow, NH 03304
From PaintCare’s drop-off map ↗, updated October 6, 2026. Hours and limits are PaintCare’s. Distances are straight-line, not driving.
Stir cat litter or sawdust into each can until it’s solid, then bring them with the lids off. With a resident permit that’s free. Bringing them wet would cost $24.
PaintCare’s listing gave the October collection as Oct. 10, so it has already happened, and the Drop Off Facility won’t take oil-based stain on regular days. Keep the cans closed and upright. The city holds its spring event in May; watch manchesternh.gov/HHW for the date.
A landlord can’t use a residential permit. Get a commercial permit with a tax bill or lease for the Manchester property; dried latex then costs $0.10 a pound. Tenants can each get their own resident permit for their own unit’s paint.
Manchester’s site and collection days are for city residents only. Goffstown residents call 603-497-4824 or send the pre-registration form to book a hazardous waste drop-off at the Goffstown Transfer Station.
Dry your latex paint and take it, lids off, to the Manchester Drop Off Facility at 500 Dunbarton Road, where it’s free for residents with the $5 yearly permit (wet latex is $4 a can). Oil-based paint only goes to the city’s free hazardous waste days on the second Saturdays of May and October; the fall 2026 event (Oct. 10, per PaintCare’s listing) has passed.
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.
Dried latex costs nothing for residents at 500 Dunbarton Road. Take the lids off before you leave home so the scale staff can see it’s solid. Wet latex is $4 a can, and only up to 10 cans of a gallon or less.
The yearly permit is sold only at the facility. Bring a driver’s license with a Manchester address, or a photo ID plus a recent utility bill, tax bill or lease. Each apartment at one address counts as its own household.
PaintCare’s listing gave the fall 2026 collection as Oct. 10, so oil-based paint now waits for the next event. The city’s own page still shows only the May 9 date. The city says it holds these events on the second Saturdays of May and October, 8–2. Up to 10 gallons of liquids and 20 pounds of solids is free. Store cans upright in a dry place until then.
The Drop Off Facility opens weekdays 7:30–3 and the first and third Saturdays 7:30–1. Saturdays are residents only. The scale shuts 15 minutes before closing, so arrive early.
Both the Drop Off Facility and the hazardous waste day are for Manchester only. Next door, Goffstown takes hazardous waste from its own residents by appointment at its transfer station and no longer books non-residents. It tells everyone else to ask their regional planning commission.
NHDES says latex can be dried and thrown out with household trash: leave a little paint open to dry, mix a quarter or half can with cat litter, sawdust or cardboard scraps, and toss it once solid. Manchester’s current curbside guide doesn’t mention paint, so call Public Works at 603-624-6444 before putting dried cans in your green cart, or bring them to Dunbarton Road free. NHDES suggests giving full cans of good paint to Habitat for Humanity; call 1-800-422-4828 to find a ReStore and ask whether it takes paint.
For the Drop Off Facility, pop the lids off dried cans and bring your permit or proof of address plus card, cash or check. For the hazardous waste day, label every container, keep liquids in cans of 5 gallons or less, and pack them in boxes, not trash bags.
Full preparation checklist →Free if it’s fully dried and you’re a resident with the $5 yearly permit. Wet latex is $4 a can, residents only.
Only to the city’s household hazardous waste day at 500 Dunbarton Road, which the city holds on the second Saturdays of May and October. PaintCare’s listing gave the fall 2026 date as Oct. 10, so it has passed. The Drop Off Facility won’t take oil-based paint on regular days.
Yes, with a commercial permit, if the waste comes from inside Manchester. Dried latex costs businesses $0.10 a pound. Wet latex is for residents only.
No. Just bring proof that you live in Manchester.
NHDES says dried latex can go with household trash, but the city’s current guide doesn’t say. Ask Public Works at 603-624-6444, or drop the dried cans at Dunbarton Road for free.
October 13, 2026: read Manchester’s Drop Off Facility page and its fee guide PDF (updated July 2026), the household hazardous waste page, the 2026–2027 Solid Waste Guide and calendar, NHDES’s paint and household hazardous waste pages, Goffstown’s solid waste page, PaintCare’s program-states page, and PaintCare’s locator rows for Manchester and Goffstown. The city’s hazardous waste page still lists only the May 9, 2026 event; PaintCare’s listing gave Oct. 10, 2026, 9–2, which fits the city’s second-Saturday rule and is past; the city’s guides give 8 a.m.–2 p.m. for these events, PaintCare gave 9 a.m. for the fall one. PaintCare shows $8.75 a pound for business paint; the city guide says $0.10, so we used the city. Current city pages don’t say whether dried latex can go in curbside carts (a 2014 city guide said yes), so we send readers to Public Works. We found no published paint policy for a Manchester-area Habitat ReStore.
Checked October 13, 2026 against these sources, not by phone. How we research.
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