Recycle Paint

Recycle Paint

Not sure what items around your house are suitable for recycling? This series of pages will cover all materials that an informed layman and consumer should be aware of regarding most commonly known recyclable materials- things like paper, Styrofoam, ink cartridges, and plastic water bottles. We will also discuss some materials that are not widely known to be recyclable like rubber and concrete. There should be special attention given to materials that are poorly understood and/or hard to recycle.

Recycle Paint / TThe Automotive Industry

Did you know that About 75,000,000 lbs of paint sludge is generated by the U.S. automotive industry each year? Well, it's true. The EPA reports that this type of toxic waste is a huge problem to our overflowing landfill situation.

Paint leftovers from the automotive industry is just one area where waste solutions need to be addressed. One such solution has been proposed by Aster Inc.. What this innovative company has proposed is to recycle the paint sludge into ingredients for automotive sealants.

Recycle Paint / The Ugly Truth About Paint

According to the California Recycling Government website, The average household stockpiles 1 to 3 gallons of waste paint per year, according to several studies. In California, unless latex paint is reused or recycled, it is considered a hazardous waste and must be disposed of in a Class I hazardous waste landfill.

Paint manufacturers have come a long way to make a concerted effort to produce paints that do not have a bad impact on the human beings, animals, and the environment. Increasing knowledge and concern among the public has brought forth the fact that paint, in most of the cases, contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are extremely harmful carcinogens.

Further, the fumes emitted by these substances can last for years even after the paint is applied. It is estimated by experts that the air within a house is three times more affected as the air outside the house.

Recycle Paint / Finally There Are Alternatives

Presently, due to a movement for producing paints that impact the lives and health in a positive way, a new set of paint products have arrived on the market. These products are produced using materials such as limestone, clay and even milk. Recycling these paint products has become another procedure of reducing the demand from environment's natural resources.

Recycle Paint / Limestone, Clay, and Milk

Limestone is one of the newest resources in the manufacturer of paint with good, old-fashioned whitewash. This paint can be tinted in a diverse range of colors and can be used in both the indoors and outdoors. However, while using this paint, one should keep in mind that the surface being painted is porous, allowing the lime to sink into the surface material. Lime allows the surface it covers to breathe and thereby prevents the buildup of humidity and an eventual damage to the environment.

Clay paint will be the next in many natural colors. This comes with a few more shades with the addition of dyes to the natural color of the base. The color will certainly offer an earthy look to the home.

The next is milk paint. This product is actually manufactured from casein, a protein product found in the milk, accompanied by lime, oil and other substances used to tint the mixture. This specialized paint should be applied within a limited time after mixing it for maximum effect.

Recycle Paint / Disadvantages

Even though one gets absolutely no health risk from recycled paint products, there are quite a few points against it. The products may be expensive with a limited time of viability before becoming less efective after being applied.

Some of the products, can't be washed or even cleaned and so repainting becomes necessary for removing dirt or marks on the painted surface. There are now companies manufacturing recycled paint with further studies on these aspects so improvements to these flaws are likely.

Sources

http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/1514/report/0
http://www.epa.gov/ncer/events/news/2001/10_12_01a.html
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/condemo/paint/
http://www.eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_paints.htm

Find Places to Dispose of Paint

Local/Denver http://www.denvergov.org/HazardousWaste/tabid/425374/Default.aspx
Australia http://www.wasteservice.nsw.gov.au/dir138/wsn.nsf/Content/Household+Items_Paint

For more information on recycling paint near you just input the phrase, recycling paint in 'your area' in your search engine search bar. Or go to earth911.com.

For more information on other types of materials that can be recycled and about why recycling is important follow these links:

What Materials Can Be Recycled

Recycling Lead

Recycle Carpet

Recycle Clip Art

Recycling Ink Cartridges

Recycling Metals

Recycling Old Computers

Recycling Paper

PET Recycling

Recycling Plastic Bottles

Recycling Styrofoam

Recycling Tires