Historically, latex paint contained mercury that was used to prevent bacteria growth; this mercury made latex paint hazardous.
As of 1992, the EPA banned the use of mercury in the manufacture of latex paint, resulting in the reclassification of latex paint as non-hazardous.
To properly dispose of latex paint, OCRRA recommends buying only the amount you need and drying excess latex paint out by mixing cat litter or paint hardening crystals into the paint. Once the paint is dry, you can dispose of the cans, lids off, in your regular trash. After your trash is delivered to OCRRA's Waste-to-Energy plant, a magnet will capture metal paint cans for recycling!
PLEASE NOTE: For the beauty of the community, do not put paint cans in the trash that contain liquid paint. This creates a mess on the streets during the collection process.
Drying out latex paint at home means residents don’t have to drive to our Household Hazardous Waste events to dispose of a non-hazardous material. This cuts down on gas usage and also ensures that appointment slots are left open for residents who have truly hazardous material to dispose of through our program.
Although OCRRA does not accept latex paint at Household Hazardous Waste events, it continues to reprocess bulk latex paint from other sources and distributes it, free, to local non-profits. Learn more about this program.
With homeowners properly disposing of latex paint, OCRRA is able to use our resources to increase recycling of electronic waste, mercury-containing fluorescent bulbs, toxic pesticides, etc.
