WATERVILLE — Waterville residents will soon have a place to get rid of their excess paint.
Recycling centers throughout Douglas County, including the Waterville Community Recycling Center at 510 N. Chelan Ave., have partnered with PaintCare Washington to accept up to five gallons of paint at a time per person. Douglas County solid waste manager Becci Piepel said the program will start on July 7 after collection bins that were delayed by supply chain issues arrive.
PaintCare will recycle all parts of the paint, including the cans and dried up paint, and dropping paint off at a PaintCare site is completely free. Cans must be securely covered and the manufacturer’s original label must be legible. PaintCare does not accept empty paint cans or aerosol spray paints.
The solid waste department originally partnered with PaintCare to host a one-time paint collection. The collection had to be canceled midway through because of the number people dropping off excess paint. The events success led to PaintCare partnering with Douglas County.
“We knew something had to happen,” Piepel said.
Aside from paint, Piepel said the Waterville recycling center — which is 100% volunteer-run — accepts cardboard, mixed paper, plastic, steel, aluminum, needles, batteries, and fluorescent lights.
She said the recycling center is important, because it cuts down on greenhouse gasses and keeps recyclables off the road and out of landfills. The solid waste department does encourage Douglas County residents, though, to reuse materials before resorting to recycling them.
The Waterville recycling center is open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 2-4 p.m.
Trent Brown is a summer 2022 World intern covering agriculture, local government, and community. He’s a senior at Northwestern University, where he served as the editor-in-chief of magazine North by Northwestern. Follow Trent on Twitter: @trent_br0wn.
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