British Parliament Debates Solutions for Leftover Paint
LONDON - The British Parliament had a debate on how to create a circular economy for leftover decorative paint in the UK. The debate focused on the British Coatings Federation’s (BCF) PaintCare program, the industry-led initiative that aims to create ways to deal with leftover paint in the UK. Lawmakers looked at what is needed to stimulate a market for remanufactured paint, including changing the specification for use of remanufactured paint in government painting contracts, and how government could enable an increase in the number of Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) in the UK that accept paint.
PaintCare was started by the BCF to make better use of the 55 million liters of paint leftover each year in the UK, most of which ends up landfilled or incinerated once disposed. Since 2014, the program has been working with industry and government to create a solution for leftover decorative paint in the UK which, if implemented nationally, presents a 40% cost saving to local government per year, and the diversion of leftover paint from landfill and incineration into reuse and remanufacturing. One of the challenges to the program is creating an end-market to absorb the 20 million liters of leftover paint that is suitable for reuse and remanufacturing. To help stimulate the market for remanufactured paint, PaintCare is calling on government to stipulate 5% of government painting contracts use a significant percentage of remanufactured paint.