Paint recycler partners with LinkUp program

MetroPaint offers customers 100 percent recycled latex paint

Leftover paint collected through household hazardous waste programs is now finding its way back into people's homes and onto their walls. MetroPaint gives the paint new life by recycling it and then making the 100 percent recycled paint available for sale to customers.

MetroPaint, a recycling and retail program of the Portland region's Metro government, is the latest partner in King County's LinkUp program. The goal of LinkUp is to increase the use of recycled and reusable materials in consumer products throughout the Puget Sound region. MetroPaint will work with LinkUp to begin collecting and selling its paint in King County.

MetroPaint is one of the only operations in the Northwest that is recycling latex paint and making a recycled latex paint product. It has been recycling paint since 1992 when household hazardous waste collection was started in the Portland area; latex paint made up 40 percent of what was collected. Today, MetroPaint takes in 252,000 gallons of paint each year and manufacturers about 21,000 gallons of 100 percent recycled paint each month.

LinkUp works with MetroPaint and other manufacturers to help increase the use of recycled materials in the manufacturing process and to increase King County area markets for recycled-content products. Businesses in the LinkUp program use recycled materials in the products they make, or process certain types of recyclable materials for use by others in the Puget Sound area.

In recent months, LinkUp has worked to expand its reach beyond private business. The partnership with MetroPaint marks the program's first collaboration with another government entity.

"Our goal is to increase the use of recycled materials and we see great potential for this across a variety of sectors," said Kris Beatty, LinkUp program manager. "We are excited to take this new step and to work with MetroPaint; we see it as a way to open the door to even more opportunities."

The paint used in MetroPaint's product is collected from household hazardous waste programs in Oregon and Washington. The recycled paint is filtered to industry standards and tested for performance and environmental safety. Each can is opened, run through a quality control assessment, and sorted by color. The sorted cans are then grouped by color and mixed to create the 17 colors MetroPaint offers. The recycled product is available in one and five gallon cans; prices range from $5 for one gallon to $39 for five gallons.

LinkUp and MetroPaint will work together to make the recycled paint available to customers in King County. Together they will also increase the amount of paint recovered from hazardous waste collection sites and recycled for a better use.

About LinkUp

LinkUp was launched in 2000 to encourage manufacturers to incorporate more recycled materials into their products. The program is sponsored by the King County Solid Waste Division and offers free, customized technical and promotional support to eligible businesses. The program currently has 22 partners working with all different types of recycled materials - from glass, to textiles, to food waste.

For more information on LinkUp visit http://dnr.metrokc.gov/linkup. Information on MetroPaint and its product line can be found at http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=521.