Key takeaways from this newsletter

• For over three decades, MetroPaint in Portland, Oregon has transformed post-consumer latex paint into high-quality, market-ready products, setting a national benchmark for sustainable innovation.
• This pioneering program will conclude operations by year’s end, marking the end of a remarkable chapter in circular manufacturing.
• The hope remains that MetroPaint’s proven process and stewardship model will inspire new initiatives and be reimagined by others committed to environmental progress.

Last year, I was approached by an individual interested in recycling waste paint collected through PaintCare in a major metropolitan area. His goal was to transform this material into a marketable product. In developing a proposal, I conducted extensive research and discovered MetroPaint, a Portland, Oregon based company that partners with PaintCare of Oregon to recondition post-consumer paint into high-quality, affordable architectural coatings. MetroPaint is run by Metro, a government agency which is responsible for planning in the Portland area.  The product, priced at just $18 per gallon, diverts significant volumes of paint from landfills. Over the years, MetroPaint has donated thousands of gallons to international communities and to the City of Portland for graffiti abatement.

Unfortunately, despite its 33-year legacy, MetroPaint’s sales have not kept pace with operating costs, and the company is scheduled to cease operations at the end of this year.(1,2)

MetroPaint’s process differs markedly from conventional paint manufacturing. Paint is collected from the community and delivered to their facility, where it undergoes quality inspection. Acceptable material is sorted by color and poured into one of sixteen gravity-fed sinks. From there, it flows into 250 gallon totes. Totes of similar color are blended, and color adjustments are made using other batches of recycled paint; no pigments or colorants are added. Once the batch matches a standard color, further adjustments are made to bring it within specification. The final product is a low-sheen interior/exterior paint available in twelve colors.(3,4)For a closer look at their operation, the referenced YouTube videos are well worth watching.

Reconditioning unwanted paint into a consumer ready product represents a pinnacle of sustainability. While other recycling initiatives exist, the closure of MetroPaint is a loss. It not only mitigated landfill waste but also offered an economical solution that consumers increasingly seek. MetroPaint proved that large-scale paint reconditioning is viable. One can only hope that its model, or an evolved version of it, will be adopted more broadly in the future.
 

(1) MetroPaint Recycling Program to Shutter at Year’s End

(2) MetroPaint | Metro

(3)Made in the NW: Metro Paint

(4)A Day in the Life at MetroPaint

#metropaint #recycle #circularity #sustainability #paintrecycling #coatings #chemicals #consulting

(photo credit: picture generated by Microsoft Copilot)