Monash Council has collected the most paint in Australia this year for national product stewardship scheme Paintback.
The council was the first in Victoria so sign up to the Paintback scheme in 2016 and has since returned the most paint across Australia for two years in a row.
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In 2017/2018, the transfer station in Notting Hill collected 345,590 kilograms of paint, with more than 86,700 customers using the service at the station.
Paintback’s service is provided for no cost to residents looking to dispose of their unwanted paint, as it is funded by a 15 cents levy added to the price of paints.
City of Monash Mayor Paul Klisaris said he couldn’t be prouder of the community’s use of the Paintback scheme to keep paint and its packaging out of landfill.
“The takeup of this program proves that our transfer station is a well-utilised community resource and that people want to do everything possible to send as little as possible to landfill and reuse and recycle wherever possible,” Cr Klisaris said.
“This is a great initiative led by the paint industry and shows leadership in responsible disposal and innovative reuse of its products.”
Paint packaging and waste liquid are separated under the program, with the containers being recycled. The waste paint can be used in a number of ways, including for energy recovery for solvent and liquid/solid separation for water-based paint. Additional research into finding new ways to use unwanted paint is also being funded by the industry.
Paintback Chief Executive Karen Gomez said the City of Monash was an early adopter of the Paintback scheme and welcome trade partners with open arms.
“It goes to show you what a positive attitude, with shared- responsibility can achieve,” Ms Gomez said.