TRUCKEE, Calif. — Truckee residents turned out in force for the second PaintCare California paint recycling event held on Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Truckee Tahoe Airport.

Town of Truckee Solid Waste and Recycling Program Coordinator Nichole Dorr said the airport was a new location for this year’s event in order to accommodate more residents and businesses in the North Tahoe region.

According to Dorr, the airport located at 10356 Truckee Airport Road is “more than just a runway.”

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“The airport was a great partner and their staff was super accommodating for this community event,” she noted. “We had lots of contractors participate in the event as well as residents from the area. For contractors with more than 300 gallons of paint they can contact PaintCare directly and have the paint picked up from their location for free as well.”

The weekend PaintCare event drew 165 Truckee residents, who dropped off 54,540 pounds of latex paint and paint-related materials. This year’s event collected 13,276 additional pounds compared to last year’s one-day event, which drew 171 people.

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Mountain Hardware & Sports, located at 11320 Donner Pass Road, is the only permanent PaintCare California drop-off site in Truckee. The retailer joined the paint recycling program in November 2012.

There is no charge for dropping off paint, but there are limits to how much paint may be dropped off at a single time.

“They accept small quantities of paint from residents and businesses year round,” Dorr said. “However, dropping off large quantities would overwhelm their capacity, which is why this event is so important.”

There are now more than 700 locations throughout California that are accepting leftover cans of latex and oil paint, stain and varnish from households and professional house painters.

“These volunteer sites are providing a valuable service to their community and playing a key role in the paint industry’s product stewardship initiative since its start on Oct. 19, 2012,” said Jeremy Jones, West Coast program manager of PaintCare California.

Until PaintCare, local government-run household hazardous waste sites were the primary programs for collecting leftover paint. Jones said residents should continue to take other “non-paint” chemicals, such as pesticides and paint thinner as well as paint in aerosol spray cans to the HHW programs.

PaintCare drop-off sites cannot accept aerosols or other chemicals.

All brands of unwanted house paint, stain and varnish that are labelled and in the original container may be dropped off at PaintCare locations, even if they are 20 years old.

The collected paint is then recycled or properly disposed of by PaintCare, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that develops and implements paint stewardship programs throughout the U.S. for the paint industry.

Funding for the statewide paint recycling program is supported by a nominal fee on newly purchased house paint, stain and varnish sold in California. The fees vary by container: 35 cents for a pint or quart, 75 cents for a gallon and $1.60 for larger containers up to five gallons.

Through PaintCare, the paint industry sets up drop-off locations for unused paint, arranges for recycling and proper disposal of the paint, and conducts outreach about proper paint management. PaintCare also operates paint recycling programs in Oregon, Connecticut, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, Colorado and Maine – with the District of Columbia soon to follow in 2016.

This article was submitted on behalf of PaintCare. For additional information, visit paintcare.org.