Root Causes of Leftover Paint Work Group A

1. Root Causes of Leftover PaintWork Group A April 15th and 16th, 2004 Sacramento, California Dialogue

2. Team Members • Scott Cassel, PSI – Facilitator • Alison Keane, National Paint and Coatings Association • Harry Finkbone, ICI Paint North America • Mark Lipton, Tremont Paint • Georges Portelance, Eco-Peinture • Kelly Wilson, MN Office of Environmental Assistance • Melanie Wheeler, NH Department of Environmental Services • Jen Holliday, Chittendon County, Vermont • Leslie Wilson, Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board, MN PSI Paint Stewardship Project

3. Workgroup Goals • Develop a full understanding of the behaviors/root causes that result in leftover paint and why consumers manage it as a waste, as well as the relative magnitude of each root cause (coordinate with workgroup on education). • Recommend innovative strategies to address root causes (pilot projects and/or wider agreements). PSI Paint Stewardship Project

4. Background • Step by step discussion on how leftover paint is created – discover opportunities/solutions not noticed before. • More questions about how leftovers created. • Researched existing survey data – WA & MN. • Neither discuss why/how leftover paint created. PSI Paint Stewardship Project

5. Options • Hire consultant • Tag onto market research survey (purchase) • Administer stand-alone survey (disposal) • Survey ourselves • Retail (purchase) • HHW collection facilities (disposal) • System Dynamics Model PSI Paint Stewardship Project

6. System Dynamics Model • Decided first to model the problem - lay out all issues to determine questions and areas of opportunities for solutions. • Researched modeling techniques. • Developed a model for larger group to review. • Developed questions for further survey work. • Noted trends. PSI Paint Stewardship Project

7. Modeling the Problem of Leftover Paint in the Home or Business 3-23-04 draft What do consumers do most often and why? How often are leftovers due to finite packaging choices? What % of consumers actually ever use extra paint for touch ups? How often do consumers guess? What do clerks advise? Consumer’s Pre-purchase decisions Consumer chooses store Decisions at Point of Purchase Regarding How Much to Buy Additional Choices at Point of Purchase Paint Quantity Choices at Point of Purchase Paint Application After use—storage/disposal Will measuring eliminate leftovers? Consumer Decision to Paint Is color matching really not possible? How often do people actually do this? How often do consumers guess?

8. Additional Areas to Be Surveyed • To be surveyed at the paint store: • Pre-purchase and Point of Purchase • Packaging and Cost Structure • To be surveyed at HHW collection facilities: • After Use and Disposal PSI Paint Stewardship Project

9. Conclusions • Solutions likely to combine strategies to: • reduce leftover paint as much as possible • profitably recover remaining paint/value. • Residential paint consumers cannot realistically be expected to perform to expert standards (exact measurements, surface condition analysis, accurate quantity calculations, etc.). • Behavior change needed to reduce amount of paint purchased - to better eliminate unwanted leftovers. PSI Paint Stewardship Project

10. Conclusions (cont.) • Clerk education needed at (some?) stores to best advise consumers on the proper amount of paint to purchase to better eliminate unwanted leftovers. • Consider packaging design changes to offer consumers the proper amount of paint for purchase to better eliminate unwanted leftovers. • Pilot project idea: offer variable package sizes (e.g., 3.5 gallon) • Further research: compare paint package size collected with paint package size purchases PSI Paint Stewardship Project

11. Conclusions (cont.) • Behavior change needed regarding consumer storage and disposal of leftover paint to best protect product value for eventual reuse or recycling. • Option: Create “value” for leftovers (e.g. bottle bill) • Bottom Line: Paint may be a natural leftover • How can we best capture its value? • Pilot project idea - Joint NGO, industry, government research to discover value in waste paint. PSI Paint Stewardship Project

12. Options: Feedback Sought • Hire consultant • Tag onto market research survey (purchase) • $8,700 • Administer stand-alone survey (disposal) • $44,000 • Survey ourselves • Retail (purchase) • HHW collection facilities (disposal) PSI Paint Stewardship Project

13. If Survey Ourselves • Retailers • Mark Lipton lead • Seek 6-10 retail retail participants • Seek 100 customer responses in 6 U.S. regions • HHW Facilities • Lead by gov’t agencies in workgroup • Seek 100 responses from residents in 6 U.S. regions • Permanent vs. one-day events • Seasonal variations (May/June and Sept/Oct) PSI Paint Stewardship Project

14. Next Steps • Refine survey questions – Hire consultant? • Administer survey at retail and HHW facilities (May) • Obtain data/analyze (June) • Report results at June paint dialogue meeting • Evaluate strategies/prioritize • Develop pilot projects PSI Paint Stewardship Project