Media Release

ALACHUA COUNTY, FL - The Alachua County Environmental Protection Department is holding the 16^th Annual Recycled Latex Paint Giveaway on Saturday, May 8, 2010. The event will distribute 3,600 gallons of 75% post consumer recycled latex paint to community organizations, civic groups and people with special needs, free of charge. The paint can be used for 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 63^rd Avenue, Gainesville, 2 miles north of 39^th 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 six colors to choose from: off white, beige, gray, terra cotta, green and blue. There is a 10 gallon limit per resident.

“A total of over 50,000 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. “The program began as a means of assisting homeowners and businesses beautify their property while recycling a product that still has value.  The cost to recycle the paint is only slightly more than the cost to dispose of the unwanted paint by a solidification process."

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 any resident that is not able to attend the event, non-recycled free paint of varying quality and quantity which is dropped off 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.

For more information about Hazardous Waste Collection, click here.

For more information about the Recycled Latex Paint Giveaway, contact the Alachua County Hazardous Waste Collection Center at 352-334-0440.