Paintback Sustainability - SustainabilityTracker.com

Ingeniously building a better future with Australia’s unwanted paint and packaging. Paintback, established in 2016, is an industry-led initiative designed to divert unwanted paint and packaging from ending up in landfill and vital waterways and repurposing to higher value uses. Trade and DIY customers can bring back up to 100L per visit of unwanted paint and packaging to any of our 170 dedicated Paintback collection points nation-wide. Best of all it's FREE to drop off! Paintback is driven by the Australian paint industry and the major companies that supply around 90% of all the architectural and decorative (A&D) paint sold in Australia. Paintback’s founding members are Dulux, Haymes, PPG, Resene and Wattyl. As an independent not-for-profit organisation, Paintback is funded through a 15 cent plus GST per litre levy on eligible products, between 1 litre and 20 litres inclusive. Along with responsibly dealing with the end-of-life for unwanted paint, Paintback is committed to researching new ways to repurpose unwanted paint materials and help develop a circular economy. Paintback operates throughout all states and territories in Australia, with over 86% of the general population a short drive from a paintback location. Use our location finder on our website to find your nearest drop-off point: www.paintback.com.au

Tackling Paint and Packaging Recycling - Collaborative Research Program

One of our primary aims is to recover 90% of unwanted paint and packaging and transform them for use in Australia’s circular economy - where products are re-used or repurposed for other manufacturing or industry processes to keep them circulating instead of being discarded permanently. Paintback has launched a five-pronged R&D program to explore new uses for unwanted paint and packaging in Australia. Partnering with organisations like the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub, Smartcrete CRC, Sustainability Victoria, and universities such as Monash and RMIT, the program aims to: 1. Repurpose contaminated plastic paint pails into valuable products. 2. Extract high-value chemicals from water-based paint. 3. Test paint’s potential in creating low-emission geopolymer concrete. 4. Substitute paint for some virgin admixtures in concrete. 5. Develop high-performance composites from plastic pails combined with waste materials like glass and carbon for construction. You can find out more about the research by visiting our website.

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What happens to the paint and packaging at Paintback?

1. DIY and trade painters can drop off their unwanted paint and packaging at any of the 169 Paintback locations across Australia. Paintback accepts up to 100 litres per visit stowed in containers of up to 20 litres. 2. The unwanted paint and packaging are stored at the collection point ready for Paintback to pick up. 3. Paintback transports it from the collection point for treatment. The packaging and liquid are separated. 4. The containers are recycled, subject to contamination. The solvent paint is used as an alternative energy source. Water is separated from acrylic paint, with the by-product used in a variety of industrial applications significantly reducing landfill. 5. Our R&D program aims to improve resource recovery to 90% diversion from landfills and movement up the waste hierarchy.

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Paintback’s Mission to Recycle: Over 56 Million kgs of paint and packaging repurposed

Paintback has diverted over 60 million kg of unwanted paint and packaging from landfills and waterways, repurposing them into reusable resources. One of their latest innovations is a 100% recycled, Australian-made 4L multi-purpose bucket made from used plastic paint pails. The Paintback bucket is now available at select Bunnings Warehouses nationwide while stocks last.

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