PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon’s first-in-the-nation environmental plan for recycling paint goes into effect on Thursday, and consumers will see the price of paint increase with it.
The program was passed by the Legislature in 2009.
The previous system had consumers dropping off excess paint at government-funded hazardous waste centers.
Now, they’ll pay up to $1.60 extra for a five-gallon bucket of paint to fund the program, which will be run by a nonprofit industry association and overseen by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
The program is part of a national push toward “product stewardship,” the idea that manufacturers should be responsible for the disposal of potentially hazardous materials.
