As a painting pro, you’re more than familiar with how much latex paint gets discarded every year.* And maybe, just maybe, you’ve had a few ideas about what do with all that paint. If so, here’s your chance to help the planet—and your bank account.

The PaintCare Innovative Recycling Grant Competition, PaintCare’s first-ever competition, is designed to identify and help develop innovative new ways to recycle leftover latex paint.

According to the organization’s Director of Operations, Fred Gabriel, “The majority of leftover latex paint collected for recycling is reblended back into new paint. However, there’s a small portion of collected paint that is not recycled in this manner, owing to a number of factors. For example, paint that is spoiled, has been frozen and thawed repeatedly, or is completely dried out. It’s our hope that the competition will bring forward new ideas and technologies for addressing this particular issue.”

Gabriel further explains, “The competition will actually produce three winners, each to be awarded a grant of up to $100,000 to develop their concept or technology. The funding for the competition comes from PaintCare recycling programs in California, Connecticut and Colorado. The winning ideas are expected to return benefits to the three states that contributed the funding.” Potential benefits could include creating jobs in the state due to a new or expanded manufacturing operation.

The competition is open to individuals and organizations located in any of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Applicants are required to complete a questionnaire, which will be evaluated by a panel of judges on criteria including:

• The background and expertise of the applicant and key employees
• The value of the product
• The value of the technology and production to utilize the fraction of paint not currently recycled
• The benefits to the funding PaintCare state

Applications are due by March 22, 2019. Grants are anticipated to be awarded by April 30, 2019. For official rules, details about eligibility and to enter the competition, visit: paintcare.org/innovation-grant/

*In case you were wondering, a recent estimate by MedCrave pegged that number at 16 million gallons per year, making it the largest, by volume, liquid hazardous waste in the U.S. 

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