Under a programme entitled Kick Out The Can, people will be able to bring paint containers to any of Crowns 119 decorating centres throughout England, Wales and Scotland for recycling during the first two weeks of March.
The news comes today as non-profit organisation Community RePaint Network also revealed that it received more than 465 tonnes of leftover paint in donations during 2012.
RePaint, sponsored by paint firm Dulux, sorts and stores paint at its various schemes premises across the UK and re-distributes it to local charities, community and voluntary groups.
Kick Out The Can
The two-week long Kick Out The Can scheme will enable people to bring up to 10 containers of any decorative paint to their nearest Crown outlet per visit. It runs from March 4 as part of Climate Week.
In order to be accepted for recycling, paint must be in original containers with lids securely attached. There must also be no foreign objects or substances in the cans and aerosols and rusty cans will not be accepted, according to Crown.
Any paint remaining in containers will be processed and then donated for community projects, while leftover plastic and metal paint containers will also be reprocessed and recycled.
Regeneration charity Groundwork will work with Crown to distribute the recycled paint to causes nationwide. Donations will be managed by Groundwork Pennine Lancashire.
Mark Lloyd, Crown Paints sustainability manager, said: We are delighted to be launching our recycling campaign as part of our partnership with Climate Week. Most households have old paint containers and tins dotted around the home and people are not always sure what to do with them. In fact, statistics show that there are approximately 54 million litres of paint unused in homes across the UK, enough to fill approximately 30 Olympic-sized swimming pools so there is plenty to go at.”
He added: Our scheme gives householders a useful opportunity to give their spring clean a boost, and to ensure their old paint, as well as the containers and tins are transformed – ultimately helping communities through the donation of recycled paint products.
Amanda Atherton, spokeswoman for Groundwork, said: The paint thats brought back to Crown Decorating Centres will be donated to community projects. It can be used to transform community halls, youth centres and green spaces, or be used in the delivery of a project creating art, for example, or training young people that arent in employment or education.
She added: Ultimately, this campaign will transform the work of a community groups and projects that are struggling for funding. We are really hoping that people will be inspired to go into their cupboards and garages and clear out that unwanted paint -so we can use it to make a big difference in their local community.
In 2008, Crown launched its Earthbalance sustainability programme. This included a target of zero waste to landfill which was achieved more than 12 months ahead of its December 2012 target.
A video giving further details of the Kick Out The Can campaign for Climate Week can be viewed on YouTube.
Community RePaint Network
Community RePaint claims this provided 190 jobs and 1,274 volunteer and training opportunities in the UK.
Among the beneficiaries of the donations was two-year-old Dion, who suffers from leukaemia. Community RePaint South Lancashire worked with Macmillan Cancer Support to decorate Dions new home in Manchester after his family had to move closer to the hospital where he is being treated.
Community RePaint Network manager, Martin Pearse, said: The Community RePaint Network is made up of 67 schemes across the UK, and we will be taking every opportunity to promote our 20th anniversary this year to raise awareness of paint re-use so that more individuals and community groups than ever before can benefit from brighter homes and communities.
According to RePaint, more than 300 million litres of paint is sold in the UK every year, of which an estimated 50 million litres remains unused; stored in homes, sheds and garages or thrown away.
Subscribe for free