‘Recycle New Brunswick’ Promotes Proper Disposal of Paint
by Trey Granger
Published on April 14th, 2009
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The Canadian province of New Brunswick has been enforcing recycling through industry-led stewardship programs over the past 17 years, and the newest of these programs will provide free collection of paint at retailers and solid waste disposal sites.
California's Advance Recovery Fee is similar to New Brunswick's paint recycling program. Photo: Metroeast.org
Paint is currently accepted at 42 collection sites in the province, but Recycle New Brunswick is looking to expand this by 50 percent before the end of 2009. There will be a fee between 25 and 75 cents (Canadian dollars) per can, which will cover the recycling costs.
The fees are nothing new for New Brunswick residents, who already pay upfront to cover the costs of disposing tires, motor oil and beverage containers.
In each case, the province works with relevant players in the industry to set up recycling programs in retail locations.
In the U.S., a similar model exists with California’s Advance Recovery Fee, where consumers pay an extra tax when purchasing monitors or televisions to fund recycling programs.
In both cases, the tax is providing more recycling locations for consumers to keep hazardous materials out of landfills (for a non-hazardous example, consider the bottle bill).
Not only is paint hazardous to the environment when improperly disposed, but it can also be recycled into new paint. In New Brunswick, it is estimated that 7 percent of purchased paint goes unused, representing 350,000 liters (almost 100,000 gallons) of paint that could otherwise be recycled.
