How to Dispose of Latex Paint Cans

[Cypress]

My fall project is to safely dispose of several almost empty cans of latex paint. There may be 1/4 amount left of paint in the can perhaps. I am not sure but want to safely dispose as I am sure I will not reuse.

How do I do that? How do I get the rest of the paint out safely? The recycle center will take the empty can.

[creaker]

I'm not sure about separating the paint from the can - there is this kitty litter type stuff you can use to solidify the paint in the can, but then you toss the entire thing.

[iris lilies]

DH always left his out on a big table on our patio with the lids off. They dried in a few weeks.

[lessisbest]

We can take any unused paint to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility. They will mix paints of similar colors and the public is welcome to the free gallons of paint to use. Otherwise, we are supposed to dry the liquid paint (we just leave it in the paint tray and then peel it off, or leave the can open in the sun and peal it out) and toss the dried paint in the trash along with the empty pail. If you can rinse the paint pail out fairly well, you can recycle it, along with any other metal you need to dispose of, at the metal recycling center.

[SteveinMN]

Yup. Liquid latex paint can be recycled -- if it has not been mistreated by chemical adulteration, freezing, or contamination with non-paint solids. If it has been mistreated, dry it out and out it goes.

[ToomuchStuff]

Opening them to air out is good. If not a lot in them, some friends of mine have dumped/painted what was left on tarps, to help it dry quicker, and that leaves them with one spot they could match up later with one of those computer paint matchers.

[CathyA]

I'm told that you can send then to the dump...........latex isn't accepted at our local recycling events. I'm thinking the cans aren't even all tin/aluminum. I hate putting them in the earth......but cleaning the parts of the can for recycling seems like too much effort. I've heard that you can add kitty litter to them to solidify the stuff.
It's sort of like regular batteries........they won't take those at recycling either, and you're supposed to throw them out with the trash.......which is disconcerting.

[Cypress]

I think the lid off to dry in the sun is a solution, except I live in New England and should have done this during the summer time. Our daylight hours and warmth are creeping away now. But, I can try.

I wonder if the Home Depot's offer a take back on these? I think Lowe's offers to take back the newer light bulbs that have mercury in them for safe disposal.

[Gardenarian]

We had about 30-40 old cans of paint when we were moving, and my husband posted them for free on Craigslist. I was amazed - they were all taken within a couple days!

It's worth a shot.

[jp1]

I'm told that you can send then to the dump...........latex isn't accepted at our local recycling events. I'm thinking the cans aren't even all tin/aluminum. I hate putting them in the earth......but cleaning the parts of the can for recycling seems like too much effort. I've heard that you can add kitty litter to them to solidify the stuff.
It's sort of like regular batteries........they won't take those at recycling either, and you're supposed to throw them out with the trash.......which is disconcerting.

I realize that San Francisco is probably an outlier, but we actually do recycling collection of regular batteries so that they don't end up in landfills. http://www.recologysf.com/index.php/for-homes/household-hazardous-waste#batteries I'm sure a lot of batteries still wind up in the landfill dumpster, which is a shame. I wish they'd make more of an effort to make this info public.

[bicyclist]

Hello, having painted a lot of buildings, I suggest donating the paint to groups doing outdoor murals or groups like Habitat For Humanity. Paint is not cheap and both groups doing artistic projects and low-income housing can make good use of it. Don't let it try out unless there a tiny bit of it left in the cans. Dave

[Rogar]

Finding a good use for the paint is probably the best option. My local Habitat reuse store is a little picky about what paint they will take and if the paint is old and been stored in a garage with temperature extremes it might not be very good. There is a place called Paintcare that has drop off location in a few states including Mass. http://www.paintcare.org/ They charge a small fee and recycle it.