Everything you need to get rid of leftover paint responsibly in Boone.
336 Landfill Road, Boone, NC 28607
Check in at the scale house and tell the operator you have household hazardous waste. At the building, turn off your engine, stay in your vehicle and let the attendant unload. The county says household hazardous waste is not collected at any other time or place. 2027 dates weren’t posted when we checked.
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.
336 Landfill Rd, Boone, NC 28607
311 Dogget Rd, West Jefferson, NC 28694
2500 Clement Blvd NW, Hickory, NC 28601
From PaintCare’s drop-off map ↗, updated October 6, 2026. Hours and limits are PaintCare’s. Distances are straight-line, not driving.
Keep the cans closed and upright. On November 14, 2026, drive to 336 Landfill Road between 8:30 a.m. and noon, tell the scale operator you have hazardous waste and stay in your vehicle while staff unload it.
If you can’t wait for a collection day, don’t leave paint at a convenience center; its dumpsters are for bagged household trash only. Give usable cans away. For leftover latex, NC DEQ says to air dry it and mix it with litter, but check with the county at 828-264-5305 before trashing it.
The transfer station takes most building debris for a fee after your 2,000 free pounds, but it refuses liquids, including paint. Pull the paint cans out of the load and save them for a collection day.
The county facility is residential only. Call EcoFlo at 336-617-2733, the hazardous waste company the county names for businesses.
Bring paint, stain and thinner to Watauga County’s free household hazardous waste day on Saturday, November 14, 2026, 8:30 a.m.–noon, at 336 Landfill Road in Boone; check in at the scale house first. It’s for Watauga County households only. Don’t take liquid paint to the transfer station or a convenience center on other days; the county won’t accept it.
In Boone, North Carolina, Watauga County takes paint only on a handful of household hazardous waste days a year at 336 Landfill Road, off U.S. 421 East. The last 2026 day is Saturday, November 14. The county transfer station and its 10 convenience centers won’t take liquid paint the rest of the year; the centers’ dumpsters are for bagged household trash only. The same county program serves Watauga County residents in Blowing Rock, Deep Gap, Sugar Grove, Zionville, Valle Crucis, Foscoe and the rest of the county. This guide is for Boone in Watauga County, not Boone, Iowa.
The county’s facility opened on April 11, June 11, August 8 and October 8, 2026; those days have passed. The last 2026 day is Saturday, November 14, 8:30 a.m.–noon. The county says it doesn’t collect household hazardous waste at any other time or place.
The Watauga County Transfer Station refuses liquids, including paints. The convenience center dumpsters are for bagged household trash only. So a can of liquid paint has no county home between collection days.
Check in at the scale house and say you have household hazardous waste. At the building, shut off the engine, stay inside and tell the attendant what you have and where it is. Staff unload it for you.
Boone’s Republic Services curbside pickup doesn’t list a paint option, and the town says the county sets the hazardous waste schedule. Call Watauga County Sanitation at 828-264-5305 with questions.
The facility is residential only. The county sends commercial and business users to EcoFlo at 336-617-2733.
Use up good paint or give it to a neighbor, school or community group. North Carolina has no PaintCare program, so there is no free paint take-back at stores. For leftover latex that you can’t hold until a collection day, NC DEQ’s household hazardous waste guide says to let paint air dry and mix it with litter; Watauga County doesn’t publish its own dried-latex rule, so call 828-264-5305 before you put it in the trash. Ashe County’s Dogget Road center in West Jefferson is listed by PaintCare as open Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but only for Ashe County households; this rests on PaintCare’s listing alone. Hickory and Asheville have their own guides with different county rules.
Keep paint, stain and thinner in their original, closed containers. Don’t bring empty, dried-out or leaking cans; PaintCare’s listing says they aren’t taken. Load everything in the trunk, truck bed or a trailer, away from kids and pets, and secure it so nothing spills. Bring a driver’s license or state ID with your Watauga County address.
Full preparation checklist →Saturday, November 14, 2026, 8:30 a.m.–noon, at the Watauga County household hazardous waste facility, 336 Landfill Road. It’s the last 2026 date; the April, June, August and October days have passed.
No. The transfer station refuses liquids, including paints, and the county says it collects household hazardous waste only on its scheduled days.
No. Household hazardous waste drop-off is free for Watauga County residents.
Watauga County doesn’t publish a rule for dried latex. NC DEQ’s guide says to air dry paint and mix it with litter. Liquid paint won’t be taken at the transfer station, so call the county at 828-264-5305 before trashing dried cans.
Yes, if you live in Watauga County. The program is for Watauga County residents. The county checks residency for its free trash allowance with a license or state ID showing a Watauga address, so bring yours.
October 16, 2026: read Watauga County’s Hazardous Waste page (facility open since April 2016; 2026 days April 11, June 11, August 8, October 8 and November 14; residents and residential waste only; EcoFlo for businesses; scale-house check-in and stay-in-vehicle rules), Disposition of Materials (transfer station refuses liquids including paints), the Solid Waste/Recycling home page (10 convenience centers, bagged trash only, 2,000 free pounds, ID with a Watauga address), the hours page, the Town of Boone’s Household Hazardous Waste and Sanitation & Recycling pages, NC DEQ’s household hazardous waste page, and PaintCare’s locator data for Watauga and Ashe counties. Four of the five 2026 days have passed. Unresolved: whether the county lets residents put dried latex in the trash (no county rule found); any per-visit quantity limit; 2027 dates; the ReStore of Boone’s paint policy (its website shows only “launching soon”). Peer review October 16, 2026: rechecked every Watauga page; the convenience centers also take recycling, household batteries and CFL bulbs, so the guide now says their dumpsters (not the whole site) are for bagged trash only. Blowing Rock lies partly in Caldwell County; only Watauga residents can use the county facility.
Checked October 16, 2026 against these sources, not by phone. How we research.
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