Identical Paint Care bills (S-2815 and A-4382) making their way through the New Jersey Legislature offer some welcome relief to mayors and county freeholders who hope that the legislation will become law before the current voting session ends in mid January.
“What makes this legislation so unusual is that paint manufacturers have stepped up and offered to manage a program that guarantees the proper recycling or disposal of their unused or outdated paint products —that otherwise is costing local governments a great deal of money to collect and process,” said JoAnn Gemenden, president of the Association of New Jersey Household Hazardous Waste Coordinators (ANJHHWC).
“Manufacturers of most other consumer products,” she said, “oppose legislation that holds them financially accountable for the environmental costs at the end of their products’ useful life. But not the paint industry.”
Gemenden, whose organization oversees the collection and proper disposal of a variety of household hazardous materials, said that some 11 million gallons of latex and oil-based paint go unused each year. Passage would mean that latex paint is kept out of landfills forever as Paint Care will focus efforts on recycling both the paint and the leftover cans.
“Most paint cans end up in your garage or basement until homeowners are moving and need to get rid of it quickly.” she said. “This legislation would ensure that all NJ residents and businesses have free and convenient access to paint recycling opportunities via their local paint retailers in addition to local hazardous waste collection sites.”
The ‘paint stewardship’ program called for in the legislation is operating successfully in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Oregon, Minnesota, Colorado and California and the District of Columbia. It is expected to return some $11 million to New Jersey—enough to finance 50 percent of all local, household hazardous waste programs.