Paint recycling
in New Jersey.
Paint disposal in Newark, Jersey City, Trenton, Princeton and Cherry Hill. New Jersey has no paint store take-back program, so your county and town decide where old paint goes.
Check your local rules.
New Jersey DEP says latex paint is not household hazardous waste. Most towns tell you to dry it with cat litter or a hardener and put it in the trash, but check your town’s rule first. Oil-based paint, stain and spray paint are hazardous. Take them to your county’s household hazardous waste program. In many counties that means a few free one-day events a year, for residents only, with proof of address. Rules differ: Essex County won’t take latex at its events, while Hudson County now does. Jersey City’s 2025 guide also lets residents bring oil-based paint to its public works yard (call first). Businesses can’t use county events. New Jersey lets a business handle its oil-based paint as “universal waste”: labeled containers sent to a company or site allowed to take it.
No free state program.
New Jersey 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.
5 cities
Cherry Hill ↗
Cherry Hill Township in Camden County, New Jersey, lets you throw out latex paint with your trash once it’s dried in a plastic bag. Oil-based paint and solvents go to a Camden County hazardous waste day. The last 2026 one is Saturday, October 17, at the county highway complex in Lindenwold. New Jersey has no PaintCare program, so stores don’t take paint back.
Checked October 7, 2026New JerseyJersey City ↗
Jersey City, in Hudson County, New Jersey, has two options for paint. Hudson County’s free hazardous waste day comes to the DPW complex on Linden Avenue East on Saturday, October 31, 2026, and it now takes latex as well as oil-based paint. The city’s 2025 guide also lets residents drop off oil-based paint at the DPW on weekdays, but its web page now says to call first.
Checked October 7, 2026New JerseyNewark ↗
Newark, New Jersey, has no place to drop off paint inside the city. The city’s DPW won’t take paint with bulk pickup. Oil-based paint goes to Essex County’s free hazardous waste days in Cedar Grove, and both 2026 days are over. New Jersey DEP says latex paint isn’t household hazardous waste, and the county won’t take it, so you dry it out for the trash.
Checked October 7, 2026New JerseyPrinceton ↗
In Princeton, Mercer County, dried latex paint goes in your municipal trash cart, and the town’s trash rules say so. Oil-based cans are the hard part: the only free option is a Mercer County chemical day at the Dempster fire school, and the next one is in 2027. Paint stores here have no take-back program.
Checked October 7, 2026New JerseyTrenton ↗
Trenton, the state capital in Mercer County, has no year-round paint drop-off. New Jersey has no PaintCare program, so stores don’t take paint back. Oil-based paint goes to the Mercer County Improvement Authority’s hazardous waste days in Lawrence Township, and all three 2026 days are over. In 2024 the city said paint could go to its Sanitation Yard on Calhoun Street, but no current city page says so. Call before you bring anything.
Checked October 7, 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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