A new scheme at Grantham Household Waste Recycling Centre is helping prevent unused paint from going to waste.
The ‘Community RePaint’ scheme launched on the site today (Monday 9 December 2024) and sees partially-used paint tins kept to one side and offered free to anyone who wants them.
When paint is dropped off at the site, provided it is still usable, it is added to the Community RePaint store. Other residents and community groups can then take any paint they might need from the store for free.
In the short time the scheme has been operating on the site, already 20 tins of paint have been taken away by other residents and been saved from going to waste.
Some of the paint available at the Grantham Community RePaint.
Cllr Daniel McNally, executive councillor for waste at Lincolnshire County Council, explains:
“Each year around 50 million litres of paint are thrown away across the UK and we get a fair amount of nearly-new and sometimes unopened paint dropped off at our recycling centres in Lincolnshire. Through this scheme, we’re stopping a lot of this paint going to waste by allowing people to come along and take what they might need.
“If you’ve got a smaller job that needs doing, or something you just want to give a new lease of life to, this could save you some money on buying new. This paint would otherwise be sent to our energy from waste plant for disposal, so it’s keeping usable items in circulation too.
“Alongside our successful Reuse Shop at Tattershall, this is another way we’re thinking differently about our waste, trying to reduce the amount we throw away and reuse items as many times as possible.”
Residents looking to take advantage of the Community RePaint scheme – either by dropping paints off or taking any from the store – simply need to speak to a member of staff on site.
The types of paint available depends on what has been brought for disposal, but most paint types are accepted.
Community RePaint is a UK wide paint reuse network, sponsored by Dulux, with over 80 schemes operating nationally. The Grantham Community Repaint scheme is the first of its kind in Lincolnshire, with more planned to open at other household waste recycling centres in the county in 2025.
Find out more about waste and recycling in Lincolnshire on our webiste, or visit communityrepaint.org.uk for more information about Community RePaint.