What is PaintCare?

What PaintCare is, in plain terms

In some states, the law says paint makers must pay to collect and recycle leftover paint. Paint companies created PaintCare, a nonprofit, to do that job for them. PaintCare doesn't run its own warehouses. It signs up paint stores, hardware stores, county hazardous waste sites and transfer stations as drop-off sites. Then it pays trucking companies and processors to haul and recycle what comes in.

PaintCare says it is a nonprofit and that the fee pays only to run the program in each state. A state agency watches over each program. In California that is CalRecycle. In Oregon it is the Department of Environmental Quality. In Washington it is the Department of Ecology.

If you live outside these states, PaintCare doesn't run a program for you. Your county or city decides what happens to paint there. See our state-by-state rules for what to do instead.

Which states have PaintCare?

PaintCare runs programs in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Oregon was first, in 2010. Maryland is the newest; its program started in April 2026. Illinois started in December 2025.

The site counts below come from PaintCare's own drop-off site list as of October 6, 2026. PaintCare's state pages sometimes show slightly different totals, because sites join and leave all the time. Always check the locator before you go.

How the PaintCare fee works

When you buy house paint, stain or varnish in a PaintCare state, the store adds a fee. It runs from 30 cents to $2.75 per can, depending on the can size and the state. It is built into the price or shown on your receipt.

The fee is not a deposit. You don't get it back when you return the can. PaintCare says the money pays for collection, trucking, recycling and public outreach.

In most PaintCare states, sales tax is charged on the fee too. PaintCare's FAQ says Oregon (which has no sales tax) and Maine (which passed a law exempting the fee in 2018) are the exceptions.

The fee only applies to the products PaintCare covers. You won't see it on spray paint, art paint or paint thinner.

What PaintCare takes

PaintCare sites take what the industry calls architectural paint. That means paint and finishes for buildings and the things around them. Both water-based (latex) and oil-based products count.

• Interior and exterior house paint: latex, acrylic, water-based, alkyd, oil-based and enamel
• Primers, sealers and undercoaters
• Stains
• Shellac, lacquer, varnish and one-part urethane (polyurethane)
• Deck coatings and floor paint
• Waterproofing sealers and repellents (not tar- or asphalt-based ones)
• Metal coatings and rust preventatives
• Field and lawn paint

What PaintCare does not take

These go to a household hazardous waste site or event instead, or in the trash if your local rules allow it.

• Paint thinner, mineral spirits and other solvents
• Spray paint and other aerosols
• Car and boat paint
• Art and craft paint
• Caulk, epoxy, glue and adhesives
• Paint additives, colorants, tints and resins
• Wood preservatives with pesticides
• Roof patch, asphalt, tar and other bitumen products
• Two-part coatings (like two-part epoxy floor kits)
• Deck cleaners
• Traffic and road-marking paint
• Industrial and factory-applied paint

How to use a PaintCare drop-off site

Every PaintCare site takes at least 5 gallons per visit, and some take more. Store sites often stop at 5 gallons. County hazardous waste sites may take more but may limit who can use them, such as county residents only.

In the October 2026 site list, about 2,800 of the roughly 3,100 PaintCare sites are stores. The rest are mostly public sites.

1. Find a site with PaintCare's drop-off site locator or by calling (855) 724-6809. Most sites are paint and hardware stores. Some are county hazardous waste sites or transfer stations.
2. Call the site before you go. Ask about hours, how much they take per visit and whether they have room. Stores can run out of space in their collection bins.
3. Check each can. Lid on tight, label readable, no leaks, 5 gallons or smaller.
4. Pull out anything PaintCare doesn't take, like spray paint or thinner.
5. Load cans upright in a box so they can't tip. Keep them away from people in the car.
6. Carry them in to staff. Don't leave paint outside a closed store.

Free pickup for large amounts (100 gallons or more)

If you have 100 gallons or more, PaintCare will come get it for free. This is called large-volume pickup. Painting contractors, property managers, households and businesses in PaintCare states can use it. You request it with PaintCare's online form, or call (855) 724-6809 for help.

There are limits. Paint stores can only use it for paint they collected by mistake and for mistints. Companies that haul paint for other people, like junk removal or cleanout crews, usually can't use it. Businesses that make a lot of hazardous waste can't send oil-based paint through it in most states (see the business rules below).

Some older guides and county pages list a higher minimum, such as 300 gallons. PaintCare's own page says 100 gallons.

Door-to-door pickup pilots

For a limited time, PaintCare also offers free home pickup for households with about 10 gallons or more, in a few places only:

• Colorado: households in El Paso, Teller, Arapahoe, Adams, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson counties. PaintCare lists (720) 854-8722 to check if you qualify.
• Washington, DC: households in Wards 2, 4, 7 and 8. PaintCare's hauler, Clean Harbors, checks your list and sets a time.
• New York: households on Staten Island with more than 10 gallons.

Rules for businesses and contractors

Any business can bring water-based (latex) paint to PaintCare sites, in any amount the site will take.

Oil-based paint is different. It counts as hazardous waste under federal rules. A business can only bring oil-based paint if it is a very small business under those rules. PaintCare describes that as making no more than 100 kilograms (about 25 gallons or 220 pounds) of hazardous waste a month, and storing no more than 1,000 kilograms (about 250 gallons) at once.

Two states differ. In Illinois, businesses can bring oil-based paint without meeting that test. In New York, larger businesses can use the pickup service; PaintCare says to contact it for details. PaintCare also says it plans to test taking any amount of business oil-based paint, still subject to each site's limits.

Individual sites can set tighter limits. For example, Sonoma County, California, limits very small businesses to 5 gallons per business per day at its PaintCare store sites.

What happens to the paint

PaintCare says most latex paint is made into recycled-content paint. Some goes into concrete, landscaping products or landfill cover. Most oil-based paint is burned as fuel, and a small amount is made into new paint in some states. Most cans are recycled.

Good, usable paint may also go to PaintShare, PaintCare's reuse program. There, people can take leftover paint for free or cheap at some drop-off sites and events.

If your state doesn't have PaintCare

Most of the country doesn't have a paint recycling law. In those states, your options are usually a county household hazardous waste site or event, a paint store with its own take-back, a reuse store, or drying latex paint for the trash where that's allowed.

PaintCare's locator still lists some public hazardous waste sites in non-PaintCare states, but those are not PaintCare sites and may charge a fee.