How to Dispose of Paint and Paint Cans in Corsicana Texas

Homeowners throw out 64 millions do gallons of unused interior paint and exterior pant every year in the United States. United States Environmental Protection Agency   To give you an idea of how much paint that is, it is enough paint to paint 3,878,788 miles of highway stripes.  That is so much paint you could paint 16 solid stripes from the earth to the moon.  You could also fill around 130 Olympic size pools.

Now does all of this extra paint pose a hazard to our environment?  That is the big question, how is it going to affect our environment?  How do we get rid of it without having to throw it out?  If it cannot be used then what are the safe ways to get rid of it responsibly?  You cannot just decide to get rid of paint until you know what you are dealing with.

The first thing you are going to want to do is determine what type of paint you are working with, the are basically two kinds of paint which are latex paint and oil based paint.  These two types of paint vary in ingredients and each one must be handled according to its type while you're painting and when you're done

Oil based paints are considered hazardous and are really not good for reuse after they have been in the garage or shed for long periods of time.  The can should have a label that designates it as an oil based paint or you may see another word "alkyd" or it will instruct you to clean brushes with mineral spirits or turpentine.
These kinds of paint are flammable, toxic and contain dangerous and harmful solvents, resin, pigments and some of the very old paints contain lead.  (Before 1978 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
It is for these reasons, oil based paints must be taken to disposal facilities that accept HHW. Here is a facility nearest Corsicana Texas that will accept paint.   City of Lufkin  You may have to contact the city of Corsicana Texas to see if they have a special day in which they collect HHW

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 Now latex or water based paint is not a hazardous waste, and it can be reincarnated after its initial use.  These latex or water based paints can be cleaned up with soap and water and they are very common for use in exterior painting as well as interior painting.  Before disposing of latex paints you may want to know the following.  Before 1990 around 30% of latex paint contained mercury and many of the exterior latex paints still do contain mercury. For this and other reasons, latex paints must not be disposed of in liquid form and you will specifically not want to;
Pour latex paints into storm drains, on the ground or into any source of water like creeks, lakes, streams or rivers.
You can put the cans of latex paint our for regular trash pick-up
You do not want to burn latex paint in your burn pile if you have one.

By following the above advice you will not be introducing contaminants into the air, soil or ground water which inevitably the paint and its toxins will work its way into our food chain.  All of this is a good reason to measure your area that you want to paint so you don't over buy paint. For other ideas or questions please contact CP Painting Company  (903)-641-1835 or visit the website at

www.cppainters.com