PaintCare Earns Northeast Recycling Council's 2018 Environmental Sustainability Leadership Award

Recognizes PaintCare's paint recycling programs in New England as exemplary model of sustainable materials management

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Oct 31, 2018, 15:14 ET

ROCKY HILL, Conn., Oct. 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PaintCare was awarded the 2018 Environmental Sustainability Leadership Award at the Northeast Recycling Council's (NERC) annual conference. For the second year in a row, NERC has bestowed the award upon an individual or organization that has made an impact on sustainable materials management within NERC's 11-state region in the Northeastern United States.

PaitCare's Laura Honis (CT/RI state manager), John Hurd (VT/ME state manager), and Marjaneh Zarrehparvar (Executive Director) accept the Northeast Recycling Council’s 2018 Environmental Sustainability Leadership Award, along with Connecticut State Senator Craig Miner.

PaintCare's four New England state programs were considered jointly for the award: Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont. In these states, PaintCare has set up over 360 year-round locations where households and businesses can drop off leftover latex and oil-based house paint for recycling—providing locations within 15 miles of more than 95 percent of households in each state.

Most PaintCare drop-off locations are paint and hardware stores that accept leftover house paint, stain, or varnish (i.e., architectural coatings) for recycling during regular business hours. Other drop-off locations include household hazardous waste facilities (HHWs), solid waste transfer stations, and "reuse" stores. For municipal HHW and solid waste partners, PaintCare covers that cost of transporting and processing leftover paint, saving municipality resources.

"We are honored to receive this award recognizing the hard work of our state managers, Laura Honis and John Hurd, and the commitment of our hundreds of retail partners across New England," said Marjaneh Zarrehparvar, Executive Director of PaintCare. "We also thank our partners in each state's oversight agencies, whose visionary leadership has enabled the local PaintCare programs to grow and thrive."

Since the start of each state's program, PaintCare has processed over 1.2 million gallons of paint in Connecticut, 272,000 gallons in Maine, 305,000 gallons in Rhode Island, and 438,000 gallons in Vermont. Most latex paint is recycled back into paint, while oil-based paint is utilized for energy recovery. Some paint is redistributed to the public for "reuse."

PaintCare's recycling programs demonstrate that paint can be effectively diverted from landfills or improper disposal and properly managed in accordance with the hierarchy of "highest best use."

About PaintCare

Through the American Coatings Association, paint manufacturers created PaintCare Inc., a non-profit stewardship organization, to run recycling programs in states as they pass paint stewardship laws. PaintCare sets up drop-off locations for unused paint, arranges for recycling and proper disposal of paint, and conducts outreach about paint management. PaintCare currently runs programs in California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

About the Northeast Recycling Council

NERC is a multi-state non-profit organization that is committed to environmental and economic sustainability through responsible solid waste management. NERC conducts projects that influence policy and affect change through research, technical assistance, demonstration projects, and education across 11 states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.