PaintCare has grown its paint stewardship system to 12 states and the District of Columbia after Maryland joined the network in April 2026.
The nonprofit, formed in 2009 by paint manufacturers, now manages about 85 million gallons of paint, stain and varnish. More than 70 million gallons arrived through neighborhood drop-off sites, with another three million gallons collected via more than 10,000 pickups for large-volume users. Maryland’s program requires that 90 percent of residents live within 15 miles of a collection site. A fee of 50 cents to $2.25 per container at the point of sale funds the operation. The system demonstrates extended producer responsibility by shifting end-of-life costs from taxpayers to product buyers. Earlier state programs in Illinois, which started in December 2025, and others have shown similar results. Leftover paint is mostly reprocessed into recycled-content paint, with some turned into construction materials in California.
