Boomerang Recycled Paint
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 12. 1.06
In 1999 a job training program in Victoriaville Quebec put kids to work on a recycling project. Then the Quebec government put an environmental fee on each can of paint sold to finance its collection and the job training program became an industry. Now over six million pounds of paint are collected each year. It is sorted by type, separated by colour and poured into huge vats to obtain a homogenous blend. It is then filtered, a few additives are put in to control viscosity and it is packaged (nicely) and sold at C$12.95 a gallon, a lot less than new paint. it is available in a range of trendy colours, as latex, alkyd or stains. A million cans of Boomerang paint were sold last year. What a great business model of public and private partnership, and proof that a little money paid up front as a deposit or recycling fee can have a big impact.::Boomerang Paint
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Ummmm...great idea, but is it really a good idea to have a bunch of kids working with (presumably) conventional paint? I hope they're not breathing in the VOCs at any point. But that's just a protective mother's point of view.
Diverting unsed paint from landfills & incenerators is an idea whose time is overdue! At $12.95 per gallon the only question I have is where can I get some.