Austin ReBlend

Austin ReBlend
Type Environmental
Location
  • 2514 Business Center Drive
Area served
 Central Texas
Products Recycled paint

Austin ReBlend is a paint recycling program administered by the City of Austin in Austin, Texas.[1] In 2012, Austin ReBlend produced 12,767 US gal (48,330 l) of wholly recycled paint.[2]

History

In 2009, Austin ReBlend received a grant to purchase equipment that allowed it to process and manufacture paint on-site, as opposed to through an independent contractor, which raised its production efficiency substantially.[3]

Production

 
 
Texas Limestone, left, and Balcones Canyonland, right, are the two colors of paint produced by the service as of 2013.

The service aggregates locally recycled latex paint, processes and analyzes it for quality control, and then retrofits candidate material into a new 100% post-consumer, low-volatile organic compound product.[1][3] In order to optimize manufacturing efficiency and to provide a stable consumer product, two pliable shades of beige: Texas Limestone and Balcones Canyonland.[4] According to annual reports, the service produced 8,333 gallons of recycled paint during 2011.[5][6] This number increased to 12,767 US gal (48,330 l) in 2012.[2] It is also experimenting and researching new ways to improve its process.[2][3]

Distribution

Austin ReBlend operates out of the Household Hazardous Waste Facility in Southeast Austin.[4]

Availability

The service's recycled paint is made available free of charge to individuals and nonprofit civic organizations.[7] A blacklist is also maintained to deter excessive exploitation of the service.[8]

References

  1. 1 2 "Austin ReBlend / Austin Resource Recovery / AustinTexas.gov - The Official Website of the City of Austin". Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  2. 1 2 3 "Austin celebrates its environmental savviness for Earth Day". KXAN. 2013-04-22. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  3. 1 2 3 Whipple, Dawn; Gena McKinley; Tim Warren (2011-12-15). "The Lone Star State Shines : Achieving City of Austin’s Zero Waste Goal through EPR and Recycling" (PDF). City of Austin. Call2Recycle. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  4. 1 2 Price, Asher (2010-12-26). "Austin steps up distribution of reblended paint". Associated Press (The Victoria Advocate). Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  5. ↑ Carroll, Jeremy (2012-05-07). "Annual report: Austin, Texas, residents are throwing away less trash". Waste & Recycling News. Retrieved 2013-06-12. The city also produced 8,333 gallons of Austin ReBlend paint, available to residents for free at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility.
  6. ↑ Athens, Lucia (2012-07-26). "Sustainability Highlights" (PDF). City of Austin Memorandum. Retrieved 2013-06-12. Re-blended 8,333 gallons of Austin Reblend paint and reused or recycled 341,025 pounds of household hazardous waste in 2011. (Austin Resource Recovery)
  7. ↑ "Recycled paint? Hey, it's free." (PDF). Wooten News: 2. July 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  8. ↑ Lytle-Gage, Jyl (2010-12-25). "Update Your Austin Home with Free Paint". The Austin Post. Retrieved 2013-06-12. The Statesman reports that the paint is free to the public. However, that doesn’t mean you can come and get unlimited amounts. Abuse the privilege and you will be blacklisted. The paint is to be used for small, individual projects. Unused blended paints will go to poor Mexican border towns, where poverty stricken neighborhoods will brighten their environment with a fresh coat of paint.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 13, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.