"The Paintmiser is a great way of helping to address the environmental
threat of discarded paint...We wish to state our strong support
for your new product."
Mark Angelo
Head-BCIT Fish and Wildlife Department
Co-Chair - World Rivers Day
Founder - BC Rivers Day
More than 767 million gallons of architectural
paint and coatings are sold in North America annually. Typically,
5-7% of the contents of a paint can cling to the interior of the can.
This translates to between 38 and 53 million gallons of residual paint
that can end up in our landfills and water yearly. How much paint
is 53 million gallons? Fifty–three million gallons is enough
paint to cover one hundred and sixty acres, one foot deep. Another
way to look at this scenario is to consider the wreck of the Exxon
Valdez, widely known to be a major environmental disaster. That accident
“only” released an estimated 11 million gallons of oil.
Discarded paint in our environment poses a real and lasting threat
to our increasingly compromised water resources. Our responsibility
to our planet and future generations demands that we do our part
in dealing with the environmental impact of the products we manufacture
and consume.
Paint is considered to be #1 household
hazardous waste. Municipal and state agencies consistently report
that leftover paint represents between 40% and 60% (by weight) of
all material collected at HHW (household hazardous waste) collection
facilities or events. Leftover paint is a top concern based on its
high volume in the waste stream and subsequent costs to manage, recover,
reuse, and recycle. Of all hazardous household products (HHP), paint
represents the largest cost for local governments to collect and manage,
costing more than US$304 million per year (an average collection and
management cost of US$8/gallon, Source: Final Paint Technical Report,
Product Stewardship Institute, University of Massachusetts/Lowell).
This cost is ultimately born by you and I, the taxpayers. In effect,
wasted paint costs us twice. Once when we pay for something we don’t
use, and, again when we pay to dispose of it.
If the paint we purchase is completely used up there is no disposal
problem. A clean paint can easily be re-used or recycled. Consumer
driven environmental degradation is an area of growing concern to
all levels of government and increasingly a market force to be reckoned
with. Discarded paint costs us not only in wasted time and material,
but also in our future well-being.
How Can Paint be Easily Reclaimed From it's
Container?
Finally, PaintMiser brings to the world, a product
line that effectively addresses the problems of residual paint in
paint containers. Paint Miser Products Inc. (PMPI) has developed a
product line that allows for the recovery of 99+% of leftover paint
from paint cans, while also offering significantly improved cleanup
and handling efficiencies.