BOSTON - The national Paint Product Stewardship Initiative (PPSI), which was initiated and facilitated by the Product Stewardship Initiative (PSI), reached a major milestone after only nine months of dialogue. At the fourth stakeholder meeting in September 2004, participants reached agreement on a voluntary Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the management of leftover paint. On April 1, 2005, enough formal signatures had been obtained to restart the dialogue and proceed to the next phase - project implementation.

Some 31 participants have signed the MOU and another 34 parties outside of the dialogue have "endorsed" it. Over $850,000 has been raised from the federal, state and local governments; manufacturers, including the NPCA; paint recyclers; and other organizations toward the $1.2-million goal for fully funding the 11 projects that will help to develop a nationally coordinated leftover-paint management system.