Many communities struggle with how to help residents properly manage and reduce disposal of the significant amounts of leftover latex paint they generate. Before latex paint can be thrown in the trash, it needs to be dried out - a process that is time consuming and/or cumbersome - and so many homeowners and small businesses end up keeping their leftover paint in storage or resort to improper disposal. During 2012 and 2013, NEWMOA collaborated with waste management authorities and a variety of stakeholders in five rural areas in Maine, Vermont, and New York to develop effective strategies to reduce, reuse and recycle leftover latex paint.

NEWMOA and the stakeholder groups worked together to develop a series of publications, including a guide for municipalities and corresponding handouts for consumers.

• Reducing, Reusing, & Recycling Waste Latex Paint in Rural Communities is a brochure that helps local government officials in rural communities better understand options available for reducing, reusing, and recycling leftover latex paint, including case studies.
• The Consumer Handout is a two-page handout targeted towards consumers, painting contractors, and other users of paint.
  • The first page, Tips for Minimizing Latex Paint focuses on waste paint prevention.
  • The second page, What To Do With Leftover Latex Paint is designed to highlight options for donating, disposing of, reusing, and recycling leftover latex paint. NEWMOA partnered with five rural communities to create local versions of this handout, and three possible template versions for other communities to use.

During the summer and fall of 2013, NEWMOA held workshops in these five locations, to promote alternatives to disposal:

• Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, Maine
• Rutland County Solid Waste District, Vermont
• Erie County Northeast Southtowns, New York
• Eastern Rensselaer County Solid Waste Management Authority, New York
• Montgomery Otsego Schoharie Authority, New York (webinar)

In December 2013, NEWMOA held a final Webinar to present the results of the Project and lessons learned.

This material is based upon work supported under a grant by the Utilities Programs, United States Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material do not necessarily represent the official views of the Utilities Programs.

For more information, contact Jennifer Griffith at

NEWMOA is an equal opportunity employer and provider.