'Keep your paint - but we'll have your mattresses,' Kildare residents told
Council won’t facilitate the disposal of paint - even though over 37 tonnes of it was collected at a previous event
There is no money available for a “paint amnesty”, according to Kildare County Council.
The initiative would allow people to safely dispose of unwanted cans of paint for recycling and possible re-use.
Three councillors (Mark Leigh, Kevin Duffy, Rob Power) asked for a countywide amnesty to cover the collection and recycling of surplus paint from local residents.
They also suggested that KCC enter into a formal agreement with the paint recycling scheme at the Circular Economy Centre in Athy “to support the recycling of water-based waste paint into reusable paint.”
Cllr Duffy said such an event should be “cost neutral” as well as environmentally friendly.
Cllr Seamie Moore called on the council to act, saying that paint will instead be thrown on to bonfires, which would be “kept going for a long time” as a consequence.
He said that by not allowing for the disposal of items like paint and unwanted furniture, KCC is facilitating “raw material for bonfires.”
But KCC said “no such event is currently planned.”
A KCC meeting was told that in September 2024 a similar initiative costing €38,000 saw over 37 tonnes of paint gathered up.
That event was provided by the council to support household recycling and help reduce illegal dumping across Kildare.
Some funding for that event was awarded by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment.
KCC official Marian Higgins said however that money has been received from “towards a mattress amnesty event in 2026” and information will be provided shortly.