Correction: the figures on this page measure postconsumer paint collected by PaintCare programs. They do not measure how much paint a state generated, wasted, discarded, or left unused. The earlier version of this study mislabeled collection volume as “paint waste.” This 2026 revision corrects that methodology and replaces the mixed-year per-capita ranking.
Across the 11 PaintCare jurisdictions with a full January–December 2025 reporting period, the programs collected 8,336,223 gallons of postconsumer paint. California collected the largest volume, followed by Washington and Minnesota. A larger collection total should not be read as evidence that residents waste more paint: collection volume can also reflect program age, the number and convenience of drop-off sites, outreach, large-volume pickups, and participation.
2025 Leftover Paint Collection by State
| Jurisdiction | 2025 gallons collected |
|---|---|
| California | 3,546,898 |
| Washington | 1,002,531 |
| Minnesota | 920,317 |
| Colorado | 785,259 |
| New York | 774,907 |
| Oregon | 651,088 |
| Connecticut | 335,143 |
| Maine | 126,183 |
| Vermont | 88,262 |
| Rhode Island | 74,074 |
| District of Columbia | 31,561 |
Included jurisdictions: California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Illinois is excluded because its PaintCare program began December 1, 2025, so it did not have a full 2025 operating year. Maryland is excluded because its program began April 1, 2026.
What “Recovery Rate” Means
PaintCare defines recovery rate as gallons of postconsumer paint collected ÷ gallons of new paint sold during the same period. It is a program-performance ratio, not an estimate of the percentage of all leftover paint generated in a state. PaintCare notes that the amount of paint actually leftover, unwanted, and available for collection is not directly known because consumers can store usable paint for years.
| Jurisdiction | 2025 collected | 2025 new paint sold | Recovery rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont | 88,262 | 912,175 | 9.7% |
| Oregon | 651,088 | 8,050,862 | 8.1% |
| Connecticut | 335,143 | 4,671,085 | 7.2% |
| Maine | 126,183 | 2,017,198 | 6.3% |
| Rhode Island | 74,074 | 1,224,221 | 6.1% |
| District of Columbia | 31,561 | 913,668 | 3.5% |
How This Study Was Built
- Period: calendar year 2025 only.
- Source hierarchy: official PaintCare annual reports and one-page annual-report infographics; Oregon’s report is hosted by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
- Collection metric: reported gallons of postconsumer architectural paint collected by each program.
- Inclusion rule: a jurisdiction must have operated a PaintCare program for the full January–December 2025 period and have a comparable 2025 report.
- No population normalization: the old page divided 2023 gallons collected by 2024 population and called the result “waste per 1,000 residents.” That calculation has been removed because it mixed reporting years and changed the meaning of the underlying data.
- No causal ranking: these figures do not establish that renovation activity, climate, consumer behavior, or recycling policy caused one jurisdiction to collect more paint than another.
Reproduce the 2025 Collection Table
The dataset below is provided in CSV format so the ranking can be copied into a spreadsheet and checked against the linked annual reports.
Jurisdiction,2025 gallons collected
California,3546898
Washington,1002531
Minnesota,920317
Colorado,785259
New York,774907
Oregon,651088
Connecticut,335143
Maine,126183
Vermont,88262
Rhode Island,74074
District of Columbia,31561The Practical Takeaway for a Paint Project
The state comparison is about collection programs, but the homeowner-level prevention step is simpler: estimate the job before buying. Cardinal Decor’s Paint Calculator helps estimate wall, ceiling, door, and trim needs from project dimensions and product coverage. Check the coverage and recoat instructions on the specific paint label, then buy to the project rather than adding arbitrary “just in case” cans.
Sources and Limitations
Primary sources are linked directly from each table row. PaintCare describes its programs as systems for collecting leftover architectural paint for reuse, recycling, energy recovery, or proper disposal. “Collected” and “processed” are also different measures: a report can process paint in a different year from the year it was collected. This page therefore compares only reported collection volume for the same calendar year.
Program-timing sources: Illinois program start and Maryland program start.