Media Release

The Alachua County Environmental Protection Department will be holding the 12th Annual Recycled Latex Paint Giveaway Event on Saturday, April 29, 2006. The event will distribute 2,200 gallons of recycled latex paint to community organizations, civic groups and people with special needs, free of charge. The paint can then be used to paint area homes and businesses that cannot afford the cost of new paint.

The Recycled Latex Paint Giveaway event will take place beginning at 8 a.m. at the Alachua County Hazardous Waste Collection Center , located at the Leveda Brown Environmental Park and Transfer Station, 5125 NE 63rd Ave., 2 miles north of 39th Avenue , off Waldo Road. The recycled paint will be given away on a first-come, first-served basis and will be available in 5 gallon pails with five colors to choose from: Off White, Beige, Gray, Blue and Terra Cotta. There is a 10 gallon limit per resident.

“A total of 38,000 gallons of recycled paint has been provided to Alachua County residents since the inception of the program in 1994” said Kurt Seaburg, Hazardous Waste Coordinator for the Alachua County Environmental Protection Department. Alachua County has been successful in making available a limited supply of this recycled paint for use within the community every year since the cost to recycle is only slightly more than the cost to dispose of the unwanted paint that is dropped off by residents at the Hazardous Waste Center every year. “The demand for the paint has always exceeded the supply, so arrive early,” Seaburg suggested.

The latex paint is collected throughout the year by the Hazardous Waste Program and shipped to a paint manufacturer where it is blended and repackaged into a 75% post consumer paint and is suitable for either interior or exterior usage.

For those residents that miss this event, non-recycled free paint of varying quality and amounts dropped of by residents who no longer need it is available at the Alachua County Hazardous Waste Collection Center 's Recycle/Reuse Area. Residents can pick up some of this paint and other household products during normal business hours: Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon.

Further information about the Recycled Latex Paint Giveaway Event can be obtained by calling the Alachua County Hazardous Waste Collection Center at 334-0440 during business hours.