Question: can you recycle empty paint cans?

For a long time, I've been told that once a can of paint is completely empty and used up, you can safely toss the can into the curbside recycling bin for recycling.

Well, I just had my house painted with who-knows-how-much-paint from Benjamin Moore's Aura Exterior line.   Above is a photograph of all the empty cans with the dried up black paint dripping inside and outside.

As I looked at the cans, I just couldn't imagine it would be OK to recycle them.   There's still a coating of dark paint inside and outside of the steel can.    If I rinse out food containers for recycling, shouldn't I do the same for paint?

So, I asked Benjamin Moore, and here's what they said:

Always check your local recycling regulations, but in general, once they are dried out, they are safe to recycle in your regular recycling.

So, there you have it.  I'm going to put them out for recycling and see what happens.  Maybe I'll print out the email from Benjamin Moore and tape it to the cans....

Comments

[happyathome]

You can always make something with them, maybe paint the exterior of the can once you take the label off with a funky splatter design and insert a plastic planter to hold a plant. Would be kind of nice since you can move the plant around by the handle and put it ouside along a patio or even a garage area. Just an idea, I guess it would make sense that you could recycle it since it is metal. Good tip.
http://lifeislikechampagne.blogspot.com/

[Ashley]

Hey Danny,

This isn't related to this post, but I didn't know where else to ask this question...

I finally got around to a JC Penney that carries the mattress line and they have a sign saying it's on sale for 40-50% off, at a price of $1699 for the queen...the same price you said it would be at in your earlier post. So I asked the lady why there was sign saying they were on sale, when really, this is the exact price you had announced they would be sold at. She got really irate and said that the $2300 price was what you had set the mattress at and they were on sale by JCP. Then she basically refused to help us anymore.

Can you settle this so we can look elsewhere for the mattress? What are the actual prices for the various sizes??

THANK YOU!

[cel mai misto tip din Romania]

After i finished painting my house i used the empty cans keep plants in them. ;)

[Steph VW]

Have you heard about the Boomerang paint company? It's a company in Quebec that make paint out of leftover paint i.e. those dribs and drabs left over in the bottom of your bucket. I saw a documentary on it recently. I thought it was a great idea!

[gwen sutherland kaiser]

excellent work danny. i have always wondered that myself! thank you... cheers, gwen

[sonja]

I recently saw a pic in an organization magazine and they had glued several paint cans together in a pyramid and then had them on their side to use to hold office supplies - pens, markers, note pads, etc. it looked really cute. they had used contact paper to cover the outside

[al]

can't you just contact your recycling service? there should be information on your city or county's website - whoever oversees the recycling services/contracts. or just call the city/county and find out who to ask. if you leave them out for recycling, will you necessarily know if they end up in the garbage?

[raj]

Danny,

The Benjamin Moore Aura exterior paint is fairly new. Having recently used it, what are your thoughts on the paint? We are getting ready to paint the exterior of our new home (including wood windows) and are trying to decide between Sherwin Williams Duration and Aura.

[Mike Davis]

You can reuse the paint cans for my non-profit...residental/small business cigarette butt collection....check out my cause

[carlota]

Hi how are you? Please drop me an email i love your site!

[David Graff]

I invented a tool that makes it easy to get all the paint out of your paint can. It's called "PaintMiser"and is sold through Hyde Tools in the USA.( www.hydetools.com) It's available at Home Depot and other paint & hardware stores. Save paint, save time, save the environment!