It's not often I get really excited by a press release. But this morning I received a nice write up and photos about a company in Azusa, Calif., called
Arcylatex, that's taking half used cans of latex paint, extracting the usable materials, and turning them into a variety of new coatings. Even better, they then crush the metal cans flat and the metal is recycled.
The reason this news is so good is because the problem of used paint is so large. According to the EPA, at least 10% of household paint is never used (I would have guessed higher), so nearly 70 million gallons of hazardous waste end up in landfills each year—more than any other hazard household waste. Paints, stains, and coatings are second only to automobile emissions in the amount of VOC emissions dumped into the atmosphere in the United States.
Products made with recycled content that are offered by this innovative company so far include:
- Lifecycle coatings
- Tag-out graffiti abatement paint
- Asphalt sealer
- Direct-to-metal coatings
- Elastomeric coatings
- Waterproofing systems
- Drywall primer
- Deck dystems
- Burial vault coatings
If you try some of the stuff out—and I hope you will—drop us a note and let us know what you think of the product's performance.