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A Closer Look at Local Post-consumer Paint Management Programs
Post-consumer paint accounts for the largest volume waste collected by metropolitan household hazardous waste (HHW) programs, and as such, is the most expensive to manage, especially since many HHW programs manage leftover latex paints as hazardous waste, even though latex paint is not a hazardous waste. Further complicating the situation is that many municipalities and counties ban disposal of liquids, therefore liquid latex paintcannot be disposed of as "mixed municipal solid waste" or is banned from being disposed of in a landfill.
With the recent economic downturn, many localities are faced with budget shortfalls and are looking for ways to reduce their waste management budgets. As a result, proposals have cropped up that would impose stringent and burdensome requirements on paint producers to fund and manage end-of-life systems for their products.
ACA was instrumental in securing passage of the first-ever paint product stewardship law in the United States in the state of Oregon. ACA created a new 501(c)(3) organization ¡ª "PaintCare" ¡ª to run the program, which will pilot an industry-led end-of-life management program for post-consumer paint. This model solution was developed as part of an agreement with federal, state and local government stakeholders. In 2010, ACA actively worked on legislation to develop industry-run programs in Vermont, Connecticut and California; however, none of these bills were signed into law.
Several local and county jurisdictions have decided not to wait for statewide programs, but instead have adopted, or plan to adopt, local or county ordinances/laws that require the coatings industry to manage post consumer paint. San Luis Obispo County in California has adopted an ordinance requiring retail stores to take-back postconsumer latex paint. Three additional California counties may adopt similar ordinances in the near future. In addition, New York City just adopted a law requiring a voluntary paint stewardship retail take-back program. ACA is concerned that these local programs could jeopardize state-wide industry run post-consumer paint management programs.
In particular, unfortunately, these local programs could jeopardize future state-wide industry run post-consumer paint management programs since state legislators may not vote for a future state-wide industry program if retail take-back programs already exist in their jurisdictions. In addition, a county by county approach is a disjointed approach to managing post-consumer paint. A state approach is much more efficient means of addressing the problem and could result in a duplication of efforts ¡ª most notably, transportation costs associated with picking up paint from each and every retail store in the local area.
Further, many of these programs are only addressing post-consumer latex paint and do not address oil-based products, whereas a state-wide industry run program would address both latex and oil-based paints. Also, if retail stores eventually increase the price of their products, it is unclear if they will be protected from anti-trust lawsuits. Finally, retail take-back programs are not equitable nor sustainable since they are not based on a sound sustainable funding mechanism, in contrast with a state-wide industry run program.
The following provides an overview of post-consumer paint management initiatives as the local or municipal level.
San Luis Obispo County, California
On May 13, 2009, Ordinance # 2009 was adopted and requires that retail stores that sell paint in San Luis Obispo County, Calif., establish a latex paint "take-back" program and are required to accept, collect and dispose of latex paint from consumers. The cost transportation and disposal of the collected latex paint has until now been covered by a grant, however, this funding ends in March 2011, after which retail stores will have to pay for all the program costs.
A link to the ordinance is available at: http://www.iwma.com/admin/ordinances/Ordinance%202009-1_Latex_Paint.pdf
California's San Joaquin, Tehama, & San Francisco Counties
Similar to San Luis Obispo, the county of San Joaquin, City and County of San Francisco and the County of Tehama received a grant from the State of California to develop a paint product stewardship program.
The program was intended to teach consumers how to buy the right amount of paint, properly store leftovers, and provide reuse and recycling options. For paint that cannot be reduced or reused, the project goal is to increase collection of unused paint for recycling and stimulate the recycled paint market. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a product stewardship program in California that will eventually be handed over to the paint industry to manage and that can be replicated nationally.
The funding for this program ends in April 2011. It is likely that San Joaquin and the City and County of San Francisco may adopt local ordinances (similar to the San Luis Obispo County ordinance), forcing retail take-back of post-consumer paint.
Additional information can be found at: http://www.calpsc.org/projects/SanJoaquin.html
New York City Council
On August 16, 2010, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed into law a requirement that within one year a voluntary paint stewardship program be established, under which manufacturers in cooperation with distributors and retail establishments that sell, or offer for sale architectural paint in the City of New York, collect architectural paint from consumers for reuse, recycling or disposal.
A link to the law is available at:
http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/ViewReport.ashx?M=R&N=Text&GID=61&ID=758589&GUID=708696A2-06EE-4181-B261-C385D1FE0DA2&Title=Legislation+Text
Date Posted: September 14, 2010
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