With summer here DIY and home improvements are often on a homeowners ‘to do’ list. It’s certainly been on mine which is why I got to thinking about paint and discovered Resene’s PaintWise recycling scheme.
Resene PaintWise Recycling Scheme
It seems lots of us do DIY with more than six litres of household paint sold each year, per person in New Zealand. That’s a lot of paint!
The PaintWise scheme is Government accredited and has diverted more than 230,000 litres of paint and 90,000kg of steel buckets from landfill in the last year. Be aware too that significant environmental damage can be caused from washing paint down sewerage and stormwater systems. That’s way it’s vitally important to recycle unused paints, or store properly until you next need it.
Resene’s PaintWise scheme aims to help people responsibly dispose of unwanted paint and paint packaging by allowing anyone with unwanted paint (of any brand) and paint containers to bring them into their nearest Resene ColorShop for recycling. In Canterbury these stores are located at:
- Addington, 351 Selwyn Street, Ph: (03) 338 1312
- Ashburton, 327 Burnett Street, Ph: (03) 307 6510
- Christchurch City, 256 Cashel Street, Ph: (03) 366 7441
- Hornby, 278 Main South Road, Christchurch
- Northwood, Unit E3, Northwood Supa Centre, Main Road North, Christchurch, Ph: (03) 323 4492
- Shirley, 38 Marshland Road, Ph: (03) 385 5082
- Timaru, 8 Elizabeth Street, Ph: (03) 688 4723
- Tower Junction, Unit 8-9 Whiteleigh Ave, Ph: (03) 343 3990
What happens to your paint after you bring it in to a Resene ColourShop? Well, Resene will offer good quality paint to community groups for reuse, recycle packaging materials, send solventborne paints to solvent recovery, find alternative uses for waterborne paints, such as graffiti abatement, and dispose of the rest. When you drop off your paint make sure it’s in the original container and well sealed. Note: automotive and marine paints won’t be accepted.
Paint containers ready for recycling
The PaintWise programme is managed by the Resene Foundation, a charitable trust underwritten by Resene. It is funded by Resene through a 15c levy (per litre) on retail purchases of paint plus a levy on returns of non-Resene branded paint ($1 per 4L can or smaller, $2.50 per 10L pail or larger).
Do you belong to a non-profit community group who could use some donated paint? Here’s the link to apply. Resene have large amounts of grey paint suitable for covering graffiti, available in volumes of 10L or more. It is currently supplied free of charge around the country. If you interested email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
So either store away your paint for the next time you might need it or head to a Resene ColourShop to get your paint recycled. Let’s keep our paint and its containers out of landfill!
Image from: http://www.resene.co.nz/comn/envissue/paintwise_hints.htm
Image from: http://www.resene.co.nz/paintwise.htm
