Did you know an estimated 50 million litres of the 400 million litres of paint which are sold in the UK each year go to waste? This paint is either thrown away or stored in homes or garages. (Community RePaint)

Shetland Arts has become part of the national Community RePaint scheme, a network that prevents reusable paint from entering the waste stream.

The Community RePaint Network is managed by Resource Futures, an independent non-profit distributing environmental company. It has been sponsored by Dulux, part of AkzoNobel, since its inception in 1993.

In Shetland, unwanted and leftover paint gets sent south (at a cost), or if paint gets disposed of in household bins, it ends up in the incinerator. By providing a facility to recycle some of this paint, it reduces waste and the amount of potential contaminants going to the incinerator.

We will collect your unwanted but reusable paint via our collection points at Mareel and the SIC’s Gremista Waste Management Facility. It’ll then be checked, relabelled and made available to buy from our sales point in Mareel. This both diverts the paint from entering the waste stream and provides a low-cost alternative source of paint for smaller projects at home, school or for community groups!

The sales point at Mareel is now open for business with a variety of colours and types of paint available and stock will be added to weekly as more surplus paint is donated.

How Does it Work?

1. We check each container is in good condition and that the paint inside is not solid or gone-off, we stir it up and then use a clean brush to take a sample of the paint which we use to coat the lid of the container, so it’s completely clear what colour it is.

2. We then add our own label with the date and how full the container is and a price, based on £2/litre.

3. Then it’s ready for re-sale from our new sales point at Mareel.

So, for just a few pounds, you can get perfectly good paint for any DIY or craft project, knowing that you’re doing your bit for sustainability and re-use!

How Can You Donate?

You can donate paint by dropping your unwanted paint at one of our collection sights (Mareel or the SIC’s Gremista Waste Management Facility) and we will process it.

We’re happy to accept most paint types*, as long as there’s enough in the container to be of use (at least a third full):

  • Emulsion
  • Gloss
  • Eggshell
  • Satin
  • Undercoat
  • Primer
  • Floor paint
  • Masonry paint
  • Exterior paint
  • Varnish
  • Wood-stain

*We can only accept non-hazardous paint that can be re-used, so anything with a CHIP/CLP hazard symbol on it will have to be disposed of separately at Gremista.