Everything you need to get rid of leftover paint responsibly in Newport News.
520 Atkinson Blvd., Newport News, VA 23608
The center is about one mile north of Denbigh Boulevard. Between hazardous waste weeks it does not take hazardous materials, so oil-based paint, stain and thinner will be turned away on a normal day.
520 Atkinson Blvd., Newport News, VA 23608
Nothing hazardous is accepted between collection weeks. The city hasn’t posted 2027 weeks.
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.
520 Atkinson Blvd, Newport News, VA 23608
105 Service Dr, Yorktown, VA 23692
Coliseum Dr, Hampton, VA 23666
7599 Guinea Rd, Gloucester Point, VA 23072
3136 Woodland Ave, Norfolk, VA 23504
From PaintCare’s drop-off map ↗, updated October 6, 2026. Hours and limits are PaintCare’s. Distances are straight-line, not driving.
Drive it to the Recovery Operations Center any Monday through Saturday and show proof of residency at the window. Keep it to 5 gallons or less that week.
At 5 gallons a week, that’s three separate weeks of trips. If you can’t wait, harden the rest with mortar mix or kitty litter, bag it and put it in your green cart, as the city’s disposal page describes.
Hold it until the December 7–12, 2026 collection week, then bring it to Atkinson Blvd. in the original labeled containers. Stay under 5 gallons of liquids. Don’t bring it on a normal day; the center won’t take it.
Bulk pickup won’t take paint or any liquids, and the crew will leave them. Take latex to the Recovery Operations Center and save oil-based products for a collection week.
If no paint residue is left, the can and lid can be recycled, the city says. If dried paint is still inside, scrape it into a plastic bag for the trash first.
Take latex paint to the Recovery Operations Center, 520 Atkinson Blvd., Monday–Saturday 8 a.m.–4 p.m., with proof you live in Newport News; the limit is 5 gallons a week. Oil-based paint, stain and thinner are taken there only during hazardous waste weeks, and the last one in 2026 is December 7–12. Don’t put liquid paint in your garbage cart or out for bulk pickup.
Newport News runs its own paint drop-off at the Recovery Operations Center, 520 Atkinson Blvd., about a mile north of Denbigh Boulevard. Latex paint is taken any day the center is open, up to 5 gallons a week. Oil-based paint waits for one of the city’s four hazardous waste weeks a year. The Saturday VPPSA collections that serve Williamsburg, York County and Hampton are a separate program.
The Recovery Operations Center takes latex paint Monday–Saturday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. The limit is 5 gallons per week, so a big cleanout takes a few weeks.
The city takes hazardous waste just four weeks a year. In 2026 those were March 16–21, June 8–13 and September 14–19, and the last one is December 7–12. On other days the center turns hazardous material away.
Staff check residency at the window before you unload anything. Newport News is not one of the localities VPPSA lists for its household chemical collections, so the center on Atkinson Blvd. is your main option.
The garbage program refuses liquid or hazardous waste, and bulk pickup lists “paint or any liquid items” as not collected. The city’s disposal page says to harden leftover paint with mortar mix or kitty litter and bag it before it goes in the garbage container. Use that for latex; the city’s hazardous waste page takes oil paints at collection weeks.
The city says a paint can and lid can be recycled only if they are completely empty and free of all paint residue.
Give usable paint to family, friends, a charity or a theater group, as the city suggests. Virginia has no PaintCare program, so there is no free paint take-back at stores. Contractors and commercial properties can’t use the Recovery Operations Center for trash or hazardous waste. If you live across the line in Hampton, use VPPSA’s collection at the Hampton Coliseum lot, set for November 21, 2026, 8 a.m.–noon; the Williamsburg guide covers the VPPSA sites.
Sort first: latex (cleans up with soap and water) can go any open day; oil-based paint, stain and thinner wait for the December 7–12 collection week. Keep hazardous products in their original, labeled containers. Stay within 5 gallons of latex per week, and 5 gallons of liquids plus 75 pounds of solids per event. Have proof of Newport News residency ready at the window.
Full preparation checklist →At the Recovery Operations Center, 520 Atkinson Blvd., Monday–Saturday 8 a.m.–4 p.m., except city holidays. Bring proof you live in Newport News. The limit is 5 gallons per week.
Only during a household hazardous waste collection week at the same center. The 2026 weeks in March, June and September have passed; the next is December 7–12, 2026, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.
VPPSA says its collections are for residents of its member communities, and Newport News isn’t one of the localities it lists. Use the city’s own center unless you live in Hampton, York County, Poquoson, Williamsburg or James City County.
Not as a liquid. The garbage program doesn’t collect liquid or hazardous waste. For latex, the city says to solidify the paint with mortar mix or kitty litter, bag it, and then put it in the cart. Save oil-based paint for a collection week.
No. The center takes drop-offs only from Newport News residents who show proof of residency, it accepts no contractor trash, and the hazardous waste weeks exclude business waste.
October 16, 2026: read the City of Newport News Household Hazardous Waste page (2026 collection weeks March 16–21, June 8–13, September 14–19 and December 7–12, 8 a.m.–4 p.m.; 75 pounds of solids and 5 gallons of liquids; original labeled containers; latex not treated as hazardous and taken during normal hours), the Recovery Operations Center page (Monday–Saturday 8–4, residency proof, latex 5 gallons a week, no contractor or commercial waste), Disposal Options, HHW and Electronics Disposal Alternatives (nothing hazardous between events), Garbage Program, Bulk Waste Program and Solid Waste pages; VPPSA’s services page (member communities and 2026 dates; Newport News not named); and PaintCare’s locator data. Conflict: the Disposal Options page gives one solidify-and-trash method for all paint, while the HHW page sends oil-based paint to collection weeks; we tell readers to use the trash method only for latex. Unresolved: whether paint drop-off has any fee (none listed); 2027 collection weeks; any local reuse store’s written paint policy. Peer review October 16, 2026: VPPSA’s services and About pages do not name Newport News; its 2026 Peninsula collections are in James City County/Williamsburg, York County, Hampton and Poquoson, and it also serves five Middle Peninsula counties.
Checked October 16, 2026 against these sources, not by phone. How we research.
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