Sometimes a small amount is all you need to get the job done … and free always helps.
For more than 15 years a city initiative has helped keep leftover paint and other hazardous household materials out of the waste stream and make them available for others to use.
It’s called the Paint+ Reuse Program.
“Really, it's about using the materials to the full extent,” Cameron Walsh, the city's division manager of solid waste resources, said of the program. “We try and keep the materials in play longer to reduce (the need to produce more new material) and then also to reduce costs (of disposal).
“It’s a circular economy-type perspective.”
The initiative is run out of the city’s Waste Resource Innovation Centre on Dunlop Drive in the east end. Anyone wanting to take a look at what’s available should visit gate three – the drop-off for hazardous household waste.
What someone might find there varies constantly, as it’s based on donations from people looking to dispose of their leftover paints, stains, aerosols, motor oil, antifreeze and the like. There may also be drywall, cement and compounds for home projects.
Not all drop-offs are appropriate for re-use, Walsh noted, explaining requirements include being in their original container (and still at least half-full), with the original label and in good condition. Donated materials are inspected by city staff before they’re put out for people to take, or directed to the appropriate waste stream.
“Folks who want to use the program, staff can help them through that process,” Walsh said.
In 2023, the program helped keep roughly 3,600 litres of hazardous material out of the waste stream, as well as another 618 kilograms of other items, Walsh said, noting this year’s numbers are likely in the same range.
“Our program is well utilized,” said Walsh, providing a couple examples of projects people use the program to help with. “It's smaller projects that could use some stain on the deck or sprucing up of a room, those kinds of things.”
The Paint+ Reuse Program isn’t available year-round. For 2024, it began on April 15 and shuts down after Oct. 11.
However, hazardous household waste can be dropped off for disposal throughout the calendar, during regular operating hours.
For more information about the hazardous household waste disposal, as well as the re-use program, click here.
