Common Recyclable Materials: Paint and Paper

Painting can be an expensive undertaking, but in many cases you do not need to use new and expensive paints. The quality of recycled paint is very good and this paint can be applied to a variety of different surfaces. Some of the many surfaces that are perfect for recycled paint are wood, concrete, and wallboard (gypsum). In fact, many architects and building owners are discovering how using recycled paint can save them a great deal of money without compromising the beauty of the finished project.

There are two different kinds of recycled paint, and it is important to know the difference. The first type is reprocessed paint and the other type is the re-blended paint. The reprocessed paint has great durability and excellent performance since it is rigorously tested to perform in real world applications. Some of the qualities like the hide, spreading rate, and durability can be just as good as that of virgin paint. For re-blended paints, the quality, spread rate, viscosity and color quality will vary widely from batch to batch depending on the quality of the blending.

In order to make recycled paints, the used paint is collected from a variety of different sources and processed or blended to make the recycled paints. These recycled paints are made from the latex paints that are left over after various building projects. In the collection of these latex paints, the virgin materials such as resins and colorants are added to create the reprocessed paint. If you compare the quantity of resins and colorants added in the reprocessed and blended paints, you may see that the virgin materials are added less in re-blended paints than the reprocessed paints. Both of these paint products are tested before they are put up for sale, and by purchasing these recycled paints, smart shoppers can often save up to 50% compared to the cost of the original virgin paints.

Although recycled paint is made from leftover latex paints, it is processed using the same equipment used in the manufacture of virgin paints. During the recycled paint manufacturing process, the products undergo the same testing that is done for the virgin paints. When you apply the recycled paints you can use the standard and conventional methods for painting. Your tools may be the regular tools like the spray, brush, and the roller.

Two Sides to Every Story

In this day and age, we all know by now that paper can be recycled, right? You may have even purchased greeting cards, stationery or printer paper that have been made from recycled paper. Well, there are also lots of ways that we all can take part in this recycling practice too. It’s very simple and such a huge help in the effort to save our environment.

How many of us have accidentally printed extra pages that we do not really need – from a website we were browsing through, maybe from a project we were working on? A good tip to not only save you money, but also to assist in the efforts for a cleaner environment by cutting down on paper usage, is to flip that unwanted sheet of paper over and print on the other side! Another option if you have documents that you are planning to throw out for instance, is to give that paper to the kids to use the clean side to draw or paint on instead. Same thing with notebook paper or those ‘doodle’ sheets we create while talking on the phone. A lot of us have those pretty magnetized pads stuck on our refrigerator doors to conveniently jot down shopping lists items – yep, all reusable!

There are lots of other things that we utilize only one side of like Post-it notes. What about all of those holiday and birthday greetings we receive throughout the year? Colored paper and white envelopes are more items that we can reuse before discarding. Instead of crumpling them up and tossing them into the trash, take a second to make sure that you have used both sides before deciding to chuck them. Then after you have and are ready to dispose of it, don’t forget to recycle it!