What is the most enviromentaly safe way to get rid of empty paint cans.?
Answer:
The problem of course, is that once the paint has dried on the cans, it's impossible to recycle. They don't even make good containers any more because the rims are all caked and the lids won't even go on. Crushing them and throwing them in the garbage is all you can do.
In the future, pour the latex paint into a plastic bucket with a sealed lid. Rinse out the metal paint can immediately, and then it can be recycled. The plastic buckets clean up much easier and can be reused over & over again.
You'll have to throw them away, but make sure that the paint is completely dry (any residue/leftover paint) before throwing it away so it isn't seeping out and contaminating.
You can bring them to your local hazardous waste depot, but that is really when you have paint left over. My local depot website says to let the paint dry and throw it out with your garbage. If you have a way to reuse the can, that is the only real environmentally way to get rid of it.
you should have either a toxic waste pick up day in your area or a hazardous chemicals depot. They need to be disposed of properly.
Contact the city or the contract company that handles your garbage and see if they do have a hazardous materials pick up location or drop off.
They should be a specialist who will deal with them. They can be relayed if metal.
The answers post by the user, for information only, FunQA.com does not guarantee the right.
More Questions and Answers: