According to the British Coatings Federation (BCF), which published the recommendations from its ‘Paintcare’ initiative today (November 18), only one in three household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) currently accept liquid paint.
The Paintcare scheme aims to pull a greater volume of unwanted paint into reuse or remanufacturing projects. At present the Federation estimates that about 2% is donated for reuse or remanufacturing, while up to 67% is incinerated, 29% landfilled and a further 2% poured down the drain.
Reuse of paint involves the distribution of usable, leftover paint, often via third sector schemes for the use in community projects or by families and individuals seeking social aid. Remanufacturing of paint sees the unwanted emulsion paints blended and filtered to create a new product.
Signatories to Paintcare – which is a voluntary producer responsibility commitment – include corporations such as AkzoNobel, Dulux, Crown Paints and Ronseal – with support also coming from the Environmental Services Association, Veolia and the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC).
In its report the BCF acknowledges that a key concern for local authorities looking to accept liquid paint at HWRCs is the viability of the service, and the potential reliability of end markets for the material.
Cost
One of the key hurdles is also the cost for local authorities in accepting the material for reuse at CA sites, which includes providing suitable storage space and the cost for staff to inspect and sort material. BCF estimates that this will cost local authorities a total of £200 per tonne for the material to be bulked and stored for collection by a paint reuse or remanufacturing business.
At present there is no formal producer responsibility regime for the paint industry which could require a financial contribution from manufacturers towards the collection and recycling of the material. Consequently, almost all of the cost of developing collection points at HWRCs would be borne by the local authority.
But, BCF claims within its report that there is a cost benefit to councils in diverting liquid paint from landfill, as the material can cost up to £500 per tonne for disposal if it is classed as hazardous waste.
And, according to BCF, many councils also follow guidelines offered by WRAP – which directs householders to let paint solidify and then dispose of the cans with residual waste. The Federation noted that this further limits the amount of paint available to paint reuse schemes and remanufacturers.
Guidelines
Among the recommendations within its report, BCF is calling for all HWRCs to accept liquid paint from householders, unless there are ‘significant barriers’ preventing them from doing so. The organisation is also calling for agreement on consistent guidelines for the disposal of paint.
Speaking at the launch of the report in Westminster, BCF president Steve Snaith of Azko Nobel -whose brands include Dulux – outlined the regulatory challenges involved in encouraging a greater level of paint reuse or remanufacture, and noted that encouraging the development of end markets for the material will be key.
Dr Snaith also called for action from central government, in the form of VAT exemptions for reused or remanufactured paint sold by social enterprises, charities or community groups.
He emphasised: “The success of this is to find new markets for remanufactured. The first change the report identifies is that the government is a big user of paint in the chain, I would look to them to help us stimulate the market through a minimum procurement standard for remanufactured paint.”
Elsewhere, BCF is calling for government to stimulate the remanufactured paint market by changing Government Procurement Rules to specify that 5% of government painting contracts use remanufactured paint. Quality protocols for the remanufacturing of leftover paint are also called for within the report.
Commenting on the initiative Defra’s resources minister Rory Stewart, said: “This has been a journey for every industry, but the paint industry is one of the real leaders. The big picture is that there are limited resources in the world and we are going through these at a great pace.
“If we can get the structures right we can save an enormous amount of money for the tax payer. There is a lot of things we can do to make that happen.”
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