GRAND MARAIS—Area residents can now conveniently recycle old and unwanted paint during store hours at Buck’s Hardware Hank in Grand Marais.
There is no charge for dropping off paint. Funding for the statewide paint recycling program is supported by a nominal fee on newly purchased house paint, stain and varnish.
The collected paint will be recycled or properly disposed of by PaintCare, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that develops and implements paint stewardship programs for the paint industry throughout the U.S.
“Buck’s Hardware Hank joins more than 160 paint and hardware stores throughout Minnesota that are accepting leftover cans of latex and oil paint, stain and varnish from households and professional house painters,” said Jeremy Jones, manager of the Minnesota PaintCare program. “These retailers are playing a key role in the paint industry’s product stewardship initiative that was authorized by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Dayton back in 2013.”
“In the past, recycling paint in our county was only possible once or twice a year, and you just had to hope you were around on those days,” said Tracy Benson, manager of Buck’s Hardware Hank. “Partnering with PaintCare givesour community an easy option for recycling leftover paint and matches our county’s culture of environmental stewardship.”
Until now, county-managed household hazardous waste sites have been the primary programs for collecting leftover paint. Jones said residents should continue to take unwanted paint thinner, turpentine and otherhousehold chemicals to the local household hazardous waste site for recycling. They cannot be accepted by Buck’s Hardware Hank and other PaintCare drop-off locations.
