Council Launches Paint Recycling Scheme

Derry City and Strabane District Council has launched a new recycling scheme that will help reduce paint waste.

As the recycled paint will be free of charge, the scheme will allow low-income households to redecorate their homes at an affordable cost.

Leftover paint can be dropped off to the recycling centres in Pennyburn, Strathfoyle and Strahans Road.

The onsite staff will inspect the quality of the paint to ensure it is good enough to be reused. The Council asks those who are not happy with the paint to return it to the recycling centre.

Those who wish to visit any of the recycling centres and collect paint will need to provide details and sign a disclaimer. This is to ensure Council are complying with legal reporting and are aware of where the paint is going.

Conor Canning, Head of Environment at Derry City and Strabane District Council, said:

"The Community RePaint network sees leftover paint as a valuable resource and works to prevent it from going to waste by redistributing it for reuse, through their UK-wide paint reuse network. This scheme benefits individuals, families, communities, and charities in need. It can enable low-income households to redecorate their homes at an affordable cost as well as helping local groups, schools and charities refresh shared spaces and create colourful murals for the community.

"In 2022 alone, over 458,000 litres of leftover paint were collected across the UK by the Community RePaint networks. Over 285,000 litres of this were redistributed and saved approximately 1.2 million kilograms of carbon emissions. This is a fantastic scheme which aligns with our Zero Waste Circular Economy Strategy, and we look forward to adding to these growing statistics, but we need our local communities to get involved and donate their leftover paint."

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council, Cllr Patricia Logue, said:

"As a Council, we are committed to reducing waste and reusing materials where possible and this is another fantastic scheme that we are adding to our already extensive list of waste-reduction initiatives.

"Passing on our leftover paint for reuse or collecting free paint to use in your own home or community group is a great way to prevent this paint from going to waste. We all tend to keep perfectly good paint in our shed or garage for another DIY project but never get round to using it. This leftover paint could be used by another householder and reduce waste at the same time."