Paint cans: can I just pitch them?

[babylonsister]

We NEED to clean out the garage, and that includes 10-year old paint cans. Does anyone know if these are considered hazmat, or can I just box them up for the garbage. If not, what would you suggest? Thanks!

[Longhorn]

1. Here's what it says at the City of Austin Hazardous Waste Disposal

site:

"Empty oil-based paint and solvent containers should be brought to the Household Hazardous Waste Facility. Empty latex paint containers can be treated differently. Leave the lids off the empty latex paint containers to allow any residue to dry out. Then place the empty containers and lids in the trash, not in the recycling bin. Do not put the lids back on the containers."

You might check with your trash collector to find out where to take the oil-based paint cans.

[eleny]

2. Here's the Houton web site

For hazardous waste disposal http://www.houstontx.gov/solidwaste/recycling.html

[babylonsister]

3. Thanks for the info! nt

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Around here. they're all considered hazmat

Empty paint cans, too. They have to be brought to the dump and put in a designated area ... which is really dumb, cuz lots of people won't bother ging to the dump. Instead, paint cans get 'buried' in household trash and go right to the ol' landfill. Seems to me it'd be better to allow the recycling guys to pick 'em up on recycling days. Paint and old motor oil should be done this way, seems to me.

[babylonsister]

5. Where I live, we have NO recycling efforts

going on; none, zero, zilch, except what individuals do themselves. So much for the environment, but this is TX...

[Longhorn]

6. Wait a minute!

"So much for the environment, but this is TX..."

Both sites that were provided for you were recycling sites in Texas, including one in Houston. Austin has had curbside recycling for at least 15 years. We don't have curbside where I am out in the sticks but we have a center that is open every Saturday where we take our papers, cans, and plastic.

I just hate to see another knock against Texas when there are actually a few things we do right! ;)

[babylonsister]

7. I'm sorry, Longhorn. I need to specify I meant curbside.

I have a pal in Corpus who does have curbside recycling, and I'm sure there are also places throughout TX, just not here, even though I don't live out in the sticks. I stand corrected. :spank: I have wondered why this isn't being addressed in Houston in my area, but did not mean to offend.

[eleny]

8. Thanks for clearing it up

Curbside would be so much easier. But I wonder if they make you pay by the pound to get rid of certain things. Around here (Colorado) we do have to pay to get rid of certain hazardous substances. At least they used to do that. I don't mind.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. Here we get curbside paid through our local tatxes

That's for weekly trash and recycling. Before recycling we got twice a week trash. Since so much trash is recyclable, changing the second trash day to recycling day was very effective and not widely bemoaned by those who are prone to bemoan such things. :) A dump pass (which is good for a year and costs the princely sum of ten whole US bux) gets you unlimited dump access, including access to the areas for special collections (household hazmat, lawn waste, yard waste construction debris, etc.). Lawn and yard waste may also be left for curbside once a month if you prefer to avoid a dump trip.

[eleny]

10. Fabulous

We have to contract for private weekly trash pickup. Some companies allow a recycling day included. Our current company doesn't offer this. And we pay to get into the dump according to how much you have. We usually use it for big yard stuff like branches and also other junk we accumulate. It's about $20. for a pickup load that doesn't go over the height of the cab. This doesn't include hazmat.

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Yanno, I'm always amazed how people tolerate 'trash' laws ......

.... (as in *bad* laws) and are willing to 'live without' for the sake of a few measly tax bux. (NOT you!!!!!!)

I'd love to see some 'tax cut' asshole get a shitload of old mattresses and driveway sealer cans and car batteries and newspaper and dead refrigerators and the remains of his neighbor's old wooden lawn building (complete with the active termite nests) dumped at the back of his "back forty".

..... maybe I can be the garbage fairy?


Oooops ..... that was a girl ...... wrong fairy ..... :)


There! That's better .....

[SiouxJ]

12. We don't even have a place we can bring hazardous waste

where I live in AZ. I remember when I used to live in San Diego, a few times a year they had a day where you could bring your paint etc. to a collection site to be disposed of properly (I guess that means, as safely as possible). But here, no such thing exists. I've got a pile of old batteries that I've been saving up in hopes someday they will do this but so far they haven't. A few weeks ago I asked a clerk at the local Home Depot what to do with a couple of re-chargeable nic-cad drill batteries I had, that no longer hold a charge, and he said throw them in the trash! He said they used to have a recycling program there as a courtesy, but it got so out of control that they had to stop it. I really think places like HD ought to be required to participate in recycling programs, since they profit so much from the sale of these items, but that will never happen in Shrub's America.

[Coyote_Bandit]

13. The Mayor's Helpline in Tulsa, JOklahoma

told me to dump old latex paint down my drain! Really, I kid you not. I couldn't beieve it.

This city no longer takes latex paint during the two days each year that they accept hazardous materials (they will however accept oil based paints). They will accept empty and dry latex paint cans during regular trash pick-up (limit of one per week - to be let curbside and not bagged). I have yet to find a business here who will accept old latex paint (particularly small amounts) for pick-up and disposal - even for a fee.

The previous homeowner here left nearly 20 gallons of partially used latex paints (some were nearly full) in an outdoor storage building subject to extreme temperatures. Neadless to say nobody is willing to accept this paint as a donation.

My solution? I use large 55 gallon heavy duty contractor trash bags and empty small amounts of paint into my trash. Latex paint is not toxic. The trash absorbs much of the paint and - when left in a trash can outside exposed to hot or cold temperatures it does tend to dry (though I could care less if it remains somewhat damp). This is definitely not the best solution but it is the only realistic option I could devise. Certainly it is a better alternative than dumping the paint down the drain.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. That's outrageous that they won't accept paint cans

I think you're doing the best thing under the circumstances. You're right that latex paint is pretty much non toxic. Now, the fact is that you *could* run it down the drain. (The following is a practical statement, not an ecological statement.) Just run the water into the sink and empty the can slowly, thereby diluting the paint. The whole idea is to prevent it from coating the insides of your pipes. Keep the water running for a minute or three after the last of the paint's gone to flush the line. If you do this, you'd do well to dump all you have at the same time. The water that goes down the drain with the paint is a constant amount (quarts per gallon or whatever) whereas the water to flush the line is additive. If you do a gallon and then flush you use the same flush water as if you dumped ten gallons and then flushed.

With your system, you're stuck with the empty paint cans. Why not load 'em into some other non-recyclable waste and just get rid of them? Use black bags and call it a day. They'll end up in the same place anyhow.

Can you, as a citizen, go to the landfill? Around here we can, and that's where we get rid of our paint cans. As is the case in oyur area, they won't take them with normal trash. At the landfill we can dump as many as we want.

[Coyote_Bandit]

15. The problem is the paint

not the cans. The city trash service will take one empty and dry latex paint can per week. But getting rid of the paint inside that can is another issue. The landfill here will not accept even empty latex paint cans. Thus, my decision to dispose of the paint by dumping it in my trash. My home is older and I really don't think that dumping alot of paint down old galvanized pipe is a very good idea - even if it is flushed well. The thing is if I were to spread out trash bags in my back yard, dump the paint on them and then allow it to dry I would be permitted to dispose of it with my regular trash in the same way that I disposed of all the wallpaper I removed from this home. However, the trash bag option isn't viable if one keeps dogs - especially if those dogs are disposed to investigate and ingest such things. The only difference between the trash bag option and what I am doing is a bit of moisture which is water based.