How to recycle paint cans and how to dispose of them.

When decorating our homes, we use many different types of paint.If you choose a neutral colour scheme, you can find yourself with more than one type for each surface in your home.It is not uncommon to have some leftover from your decorating project that you can use for another project.

These leftovers can often stack up and are only good to use for a few years before they dry out or discolour, all the while taking up space we don't have in our homes and garages.If you can't use these up yourself, it's helpful to have a few ideas to hand.

If you bought the paint less than 135 days ago, you may be able to return it for an exchange or refund.You can check our returns and refunds page.

It is important to remember that even though it is safe to use paint in our homes, it can be harmful to the environment if it isn't thrown away in the right way.Follow our tips to make sure that your paint cans are dealt with in the safest way possible.

Asking friends, family and neighbours if they would like your paint is the best place to start.Freecycle or Freegle are good for larger quantities.You can connect with other people in your area who would like to use your leftovers on these websites.

The organisation that would love to re-use your paint is not the only one.Community RePaint is a UK wide network of over 75 schemes who collect surplus and leftover paint and then make it available to individuals and families in social need and every form of community group and charity, so that they are able to re-use household paints for projects such as decorating community centres and

You can get in touch with a local scheme who can use your paint.Community RePaint are collecting cans from local household waste recycling centers for reuse in a pilot scheme in Cambridgeshire and North East London and there are more details on their website.

You will need to make sure your paint is hardened before you dispose of it if it is old and unsuitable for re-use.Paint cannot be placed in your household waste bin and must not be poured down the drain where it can cause damage.

If you have a small amount of paint left, brush it on to scrap paper or cardboard and leave it to dry.The paper or card can be put in the bin once it is dry.If there is more than a few centimetres of paint in the can, you can add some dry soil, sand or sawdust to it.

Your local council can let you know where to get your paint cans.Plastic and metal paint cans are recycled here.

Plastic paint cans can be recycled at your local household waste recycling centre.

Hopefully all plastic paint pots can be recycled in the future, as we currently support a pilot scheme to introduce recycling for these containers.The household waste recycling centre in your area will separate these cans for inclusion in the trial.

The bad news is that they can't be recycled.Drop off your paint cans at the household recycling centre.You can check with your local authority for more information.

Find out more about the One Planet Home® programme at B&Q.

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