FAQ

How do I know if my paint is waste?

If a coating has expired, has a bacterial smell, has packaging damages, has started to change form or has not been stored correctly, your paint is most likely waste. 

Most suppliers have advisement about the paint in the Technical Data Sheet and recommended warning signs that your paint has gone bad or become waste.

Can I put the paint in with my general rubbish or tip it down the drain?

NO! You can see your local council website for advisement on ways to dispose of paint in your area. General Rubbish and waterways are monitored for this type of contamination and can have very serious consequences if you are found to be doing this. We have gone a stage further on this as we believe that these products should also not be going to landfill or being incinerated due to leaching, toxic ashes and air pollution.

What happens with the containers?

Wherever possible, the containers are recycled. Plastic Pails go back to one of many plastic recyclers (depending on the plastic type and grade) and the steel is scrapped for reuse. Paper and Cardboard materials are recycled when not contaminated. All other materials are made inert and reused wherever possible.

Are you approved to do this? How do you keep safe?

Yes we are approved by Auckland Council for waste handling for the products we do accept. You do not need a certification before 20,000kg  per year and we have declared and registered before we got to the 20,000kg threshold. As we approach this threshold, we communicate with the relevant groups and obtain approval. Our sites are regularly visited for monitoring.

We use approved systems and do not discharge fluids without watercare labs testing and approvals showing no environmental impact. In a lot of cases we can reuse recovered fluids either in our processes or products.

We keep safe with the correct PPE, monitoring equipment, filtration systems, explosion proof equipment with our flammable materials and all fluids are filtered multiple ways and then used in our processes once made safe to do so. We are regularly testing the products we have onsite and testing during processing. 

Our team are all trained for the materials they handle including  SWMS and SOP. Our staff are trained for responding to any situation that may arise during processing. If a reaction can occur that we are not 100% confident in responding to, we do not accept the product.

Why do we not deal with smaller quantities?

As you may have seen on our site, we are not a disposal group but more of a processing and recovery group, Having a walk-in facility has big overhead expenses and puts us in competition with others. We are focused on providing a cleaner solution to our waste issues and want to be able to provide a quality service, hence we found it made more sense to work with the trade suppliers and disposal groups. Creating a one stop service for our customers clients.

What are stewardship fees with paint?

Stewardship fees for paint in New Zealand are levied to help cover the costs of recycling and treating paint. These fees are part of product stewardship schemes, which are designed to reduce waste and environmental harm. Unfortunately these programs are still being developed to cover the paint waste being generated in New Zealand meaning the system has not yet achieved a sustainable life cycle.

Resene PaintWise

A small levy is charged on all Resene paint purchases, and a small fee is charged for non-Resene products. Trade customers can return Resene branded paints for free.

Dulux

Eligible Paints in original Dulux, British Paints, Berger, Cabot’s, Intergrain, Dryden or Feast Watson packaging can be returned free of charge. On non-Dulux group branded paints, a $0.25 per packaging litre return and collection fee is applied. 

Community Groups

Some community groups accept usable paint for reuse in the community. See your council website for approved groups.

How much paint is wasted in New Zealand?

Unfortunately there is not a monitor or a direct answer for this question. We work on the below facts.

Globally: It is extimated that 10% of all paint purchased ends up as waste.

Applying to NZ: Based on the NZ paint market value of $738.5 million, this could translate to roughly $73.85 million worth of paint wasted each year. This equates to approximately 7.385 million worth of paint, assuming an average cost of $10 per litre leaves us with 738,500 kg of waste paint every year!

Zero Emission Incineration

Zero emission incinerators are not possible because incinerators produce large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). In fact, incinerators produce more (CO2) than burning fossil fuels.  

When waste is incinerated, 70% of waste becomes an air pollutant, the other 30% becomes a toxic ash that is more harmful for landfills. Making incinerating worse than landfilling.

The other thing to consider is the requirements incinerators have to operate, a continuous long-term waste stream generating a more hazardous waste byproduct.

Recyclables and Where to take them / Council Advisement

Where to take recyclables and what is classed as recyclable depends on your local council. Go to your local council website for advise.

Do you know the formula for the products you receive? 

We understand the base requirements for the product to be made, from there we investigate the Safety Data Sheet and do some testing. By this point we normally know exactly what the product is made of. We dont like handling any "unknowns" so we will not accept it if we are not confident we can do this process.

In some instances, suppliers will provide us with restricted information to assist in the safest recovery method possible. We do not share this information and it is protected by managed data protection systems as well as trademark or copyright. Most hazardous waste can't be accepted without a Safety Data Sheet.