Kane offers recycling for latex, oil-based and acrylic paints

Kane County offers programs to recycle unused latex house paint, water-based acrylic paints and oil-based paints, stains and similar products so they don’t end up in the landfill.

Three collection events are held annually at which county residents can pay a small fee — $1 for quart cans or smaller, $3 for gallon cans, $5 for 2-gallon cans and $15 for 15-gallon buckets — to recycle latex and acrylic paints.

The fee covers the cost of transporting the old paint to and processing it at ePaint Recycling in Battle Creek, Michigan, Kane County Recycling Coordinator Clair Ryan said.

They also work with Flat Can Recycling in Gilberts to recycle spray paint and other aerosol products, which Kane residents can drop off at the county’s Batavia Recycling Center, which is open year round, Ryan said. Residents pay $1 per can.

The county’s website, www.countyofkane.org/Recycling/Pages/paint.aspx, also includes information on other places in or near Kane that accept paint products for recycling and instructions on how residents can dry out old latex and acrylic paint containers so they can be left for regular trash collection.

Oil-based paints, primers, stains, varnishes, enamels and lacquers are considered hazardous materials and should not be put in the trash.

Kane County works with Massachusetts-based Clean Harbors to pick up those kind of products at residents’ homes along with other household hazardous waste items.

The program is available primarily in the county’s northern townships, which don’t have access to the Naperville hazardous waste drop-off site that other county residents can use, Ryan said.

Clean Harbors safely disposes of oil-based coatings by incinerating them, she said.

There is no additional charge for the pickup service because it’s funded through the $3 collected annually as part of garbage bills. The $3 also helps pay for the county’s recycling program, which is primarily funded with money from Grand Victoria Riverboat taxes.

To schedule a pickup, go to cleanharbors.formstack.com/forms/kane_hhw_pick_up_request or call 866-466-5060.

For more information on Kane County’s curbside collection program, go to www.countyofkane.org/Recycling/Pages/hhw/curbsideCollection.aspx.

A separate program for disposal of oil-based paints, primers, stains, varnishes, enamels and lacquers for Elgin residents is available through Waste Management by calling 800-449-7587. The pickup service is free but there is a two- to four-week wait.

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.