discarding old paint tins

[Jimk]

Angle grinder

[tim...]

what to do

you can't put them in the normal rubbish

you can't put them in the recycling

you can "recycle" them by letting the contents dry out and take them to the household recycling centre. But I'm not lugging 6 tins there on the bus (that's if they'll even let me in when I get there)

so what do you do with the damned things

fly-tip them?

tim

[Andrew]

Let them dry out and then flatten. Dispose in normal rubbish.

[Dave Plowman (News]

How would they know? Do your dustmen go through the rubbish? ;-)

[polygonum_on_google]

Yes. They do.

I'd argue that, as with batteries, all who sell paint should take back paint tins - empty or with remnant contents. And thinners/white spirit and paint-soaked brushes and rollers.

Might not be the answer to carrying on the bus...

[tim...]

and there was me thinking Dave liked to be seen as a responsible camper

[Chris Hogg]

Agreed. I had a sharp note written on a scrap of cardboard the other week, saying that if I put out tissues with the waste paper for recycling, they wouldn't take any of it. Reasonable comment, I suppose, except that I don't use tissues for blowing my nose etc, only for cleaning my specs, but they're not to know.

As for half-empty paint tins, I've taken them to the recycle depot in the past, and been told just to dump them in the skip used mainly for plastic (they were plastic 'tins'). Can't get near the depot ATM, social distancing etc has meant a very slow throughput, queues down the road for hundreds of yards, and waiting times of several hours. I'm just stacking stuff in the garage until the situation improves.

[Andy Burns]

Ours says appointment only, which seems to have deterred anyone from bothering to go, they had council-heavies at the top of the road for a few days, but they've now gone ...

[Chris Green]

Our tip has (sensibly) set up an appointments system to guarantee social distancing.

[Chris J Dixon]

I don't think it is a health worry, more that the material is unsuitable for recycling, as are (at least in our area) tissue paper and greaseproof).

Chris

[R D S]

Can't you? That's news to me.

Appointment only around these parts!

[R D S]

We can put emulsion tins in our bin around these parts, and that's all I ever use.

[charles]

last week, I did 3 trips top our local 'dump'. No crowds, just wait for one car the first time, drove straight in the other tw.

[Dave Plowman (News]

I'd only be throwing out paint if the tin was nearly empty and solid anyway. If in a condition where it could be useful later, I'd keep it.

If you were burning off old paint or sanding it down and collecting the dust, how would you dispose of that?

>

[Dave Plowman (News]

Different matter with stuff in the recycle bin. The wrong material could contaminate the whole batch. And tissues may not be made from paper which can be recycled. Same as some kitchen 'paper' and wet wipes.

And wonder just what happens to the stuff in the plastic skip afterwards?

[Scott]

I was told to throw them into the compactor. I suggested this would mean the compactor getting covered in wet paint, but they said that did not matter.

[Chris Hogg]

There's a relatively new waste-to-energy incinerator in mid Cornwall. I assume all combustible stuff ends up there. I don't see the point of keeping plastic waste separate, otherwise.

[Peter Johnson]

Not aware of any restriction here. Sometimes if the guys collecting the recycling see something in the bag they don't like they'll leave that item behind. Don't say anything or leave a note. I just put whatever it is in the bin with the ordinary rubbish.

[Scott]

I thought it passed along a long conveyor belt with electromagnets to remove ferrous items, air jets to lift the paper and cans and teams of pickers to remove unsuitable and wrongly categorised items.

I also thought the paper and card was pulped with all impurities removed at that stage, so would plastic contaminant make any difference? They seem to cope with the ink okay so why not a bit of plastic?

[R D S]

Round here the council have outsourced the bin collections. If the bin guys see anything in your bin they don't like the look of, they don't take it. A bone of contention is pizza boxes with a bit of grease on.