If you were at last week’s Kane County recycling event, you probably noticed the variety of paint-recycling options.

Nowadays, there are all sorts of recycling opportunities for latex and oil paint, and you can learn more about them by visiting the paint-recycling page of the Kane County Recycles website.

But what you might not realize is all the good that can happen — locally and even internationally — when you do choose to recycle paint at a Kane County recycling event.

Once the county’s service professionals from Joliet-based Paint Disposal Services collect the paint at a recycling event, they work with non-profit organizations that take collected paint and re-blend it into base colors. The desperately-needed paint is delivered to people in Third World countries so that they can paint their homes, businesses, schools, medical centers and churches.

Presently, their end markets are South America, Africa, certain hurricane disaster areas and Haiti, distributed with the help of non-for-profit charities such as Matthew 25 Ministries and Global Paint for Charity.

PDS is working with paint manufacturing companies to provide a full line of recycled paint in Spring 2018. They are also currently working on manufacturing latex-based asphalt sealer in Joliet, which will also be available in Spring 2018.

Ironically, when PDS contacted Global Paint for Charity to let them know that asphalt sealer would probably mean less paint to recycle, the response was that it was not good news because millions of gallons of paint is needed in Africa.

“Unfortunately, there are currently more unpainted surfaces in Africa then there are painted surfaces, and the paint we contribute helps in the fight against malaria when surfaces are painted,” said PDS officials. “After this discussion, we learned something new as a company and decided that we will continue to provide Global Paint for Charity with the same amount of paint that they’ve always requested.”

In just one years’ time, Paint Disposal Services, Inc. provides up to 400,000 pounds of unused latex paint to Global Paint for Charities.

About Global Paint For Charity

Our Mission is to recover leftover paint from businesses and residences, reprocess it and distribute it to vulnerable individuals, families and entities such as schools, hospitals, churches and women centers in developing countries around the world.

About Matthew 25 Ministries

The mission of Matthew 25: Ministries is to fulfill Matthew 25:34-40 of the New Testament by providing nutritional food to the hungry, clean water to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, affordable shelter to the homeless, medical care to the ill, and humanitarian supplies to those in need.

About Paint Disposal Services

Paint Disposal Services, located in Joliet, collects unused and/or leftover paint from participating Ace and True Value hardware stores, homeowners, commercial businesses, municipalities, contractors, property management companies and from recycling collection events like Kane County’s.