The Master Painter Australia - April 2016 Vol. 1 | Page 16

TRADE UPDATE
®

paintback.com.au

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT PAINTBACK
Information to guide you through the Paintback journey:
1. What is Paintback?
Paintback is a first for trade painters. From May 2016 Paintback - a new
national waste paint collection scheme will be launched, providing a cost
effective service for retail and trade painters to clear away left over paint.
It aims to reduce the large volumes of waste paint currently stored or disposed
of improperly, which poses environmental risks including from contaminants
that can seep into soil and water systems.
To learn more about Paintback, visit our website Paintback.com.au or connect
with us on social media to receive latest updates.

2. How much will it cost?
The levy will be 15 cents per litre (plus GST) and has been approved by the
ACCC. The levy will fund the collection and treatment of waste paint nationally,
education campaigns and research.
The levy will be collected from the paint companies (manufacturers and
importers) so they will be required to pass this on in full to all their customers.
This will result in a once-off price increase to cover the new 15 cent per litre
levy and GST effective May 2016

3. Where do I take my unwanted paint?
Paintback will establish drop-off sites at local councils across Australia where
you can leave your unwanted paint. Waste paint will not be accepted by
non-Paintback sites.
Paintback’s first sites will service large population areas in mainland capital
cities (see later in this Update). From May 2016, further sites will be rolled out
across Australia. Paintback is targeting 30 sites nationally by the end of the
year and over 50 by end 2017.
There will be no additional charge to drop off your waste paint at a Paintback
collection point.

4. Why can’t I take it back to my retailer or trade store?
Disposing of product where you purchased it from is not an environmentally
suitable location for disused paint cans to be collected. Dropping paint off at
participating transfer stations ensures that the waste paint collected can be
managed by suitably trained staff and stored in a purpose-built area.

5. How do we access the sites when we live regionally?
For areas with lower populations or in remote areas where there may not be
permanent collection sites available initially. Paintback also intends to run
mobile collections to service low populated areas.
This involves temporary sites that will be established for certain
collection days. These will be advised via our website paintback.com.au, at local
council websites advertised in local media and across our social media sites.

6. How much paint can I return?
100 litres of paint in containers of up to 20 litres is the maximum that can be
returned per visit to your Paintback site.
If you have a large stockpile of waste p Z[