Boomerang paints are made from recycling unused leftover paint and stains.  Rather than tossing that unused fuchsia paint, if you live in Quebec, Canada or provinces close to Quebec, you can simply take it to a collection station.  The great thing is that you are taking hazardous waste out of the waste stream.

Boomerang Paint is located in Quebec Canada.  Canadian environmental laws set up rules and regulations for the recovery of used paints and stains while creating the Éco-peinture, a nonprofit agency that is in charge of collecting the paints and stains to be recycled.  The recycled paints and stains are sold under the Peinture Récupérée brand – Boomerang.

The paints that are collected are:

• Primer and paint (latex, alkyd, enamel or others)
• Metal or rust paint
• Aluminum paint
• Stains
• Varnishes
• Lacquers
• Wood or masonry finishing products (preservatives) including acrylic driveway sealer
• Road-marking paint (available in retail stores).

Paints that are unacceptable are:

Paint designed for artists’ use:

• Primer and paint

For industrial use:

• Used as part of a manufacturing process or in factories
• Fast-drying one-or two-part paint used in manufacturing, in factories, as automotive paint, in a factory or paint shop (garage, body shop, car dealership, etc.)
• Containing pesticides
• Anti-fouling
• Road-marking paint (purchased on the wholesale market)
• Solvents and paint thinners
• Adhesives
• Tar and tar-based sealers
• Stucco

Once leftover paint is turned over at the collection centers, the paint is sorted by type: “latex paint, alkyd paint, rust paint, stains, etc.”  All of the sorted paints are then processed by a robot that removes dried paint and paint skins that will be properly disposed of.  Then the sorted and processed items are sorted again by color.

Once all of the paints are sorted by color, each color is emptied into a large vat where the paint is mixed and filtered into either latex or alkyd consistency.  Samples are taken from the filtered mixture for quality control purposes.  Finally, one percent of new product is added to the paint to ensure quality, consistency and proper drying time.

The recycled paint can be applied just like new paint, with brushes, rollers and sprayers.  Recycled paints are divided into several different types of paint such as indoor latex paint and varnish, outdoor alkyd paint and stains.

Sixteen colors are available in the latex paint.  Only four colors are available for outdoor uses and six stains.  The color choices may not be as abundant as your local paint store but these paints have the advantage of being cheaper and environmentally friendly.  If one of the colors or stains available is suitable for your purpose, then Boomerang Recycled Paint is the better buy.

Now you have some place to take that leftover paint that has been hanging out in your garage.  You can also feel virtuous when you use Boomerang paint for your house or deck – as long as you live in Quebec.

Other recycled paint manufacturers are: Visions Paint Recycling Inc. in McClellan, California; Kelly-Moore Paints, in Sacramento, California; Dunn-Edwards Paints, Los Angeles, California; MetroPaint, in Portland, Oregon; Local Color, in Burlington, Vermont; Amazon Paint in Fridley, Minnesota; The Paint Recycling Company, in Nova Scotia, Canada; and RecyclePaint.com, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Now if the rest of Canada, and the United States would just join them.

Related:

Entry was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 3:47 pm under Green Technology, Science and technology.

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