A bill that would create a house paint recycling program and fund it through higher wholesale prices got the go-ahead from the New Jersey Senate Monday despite opposition from retailers.
The Senate voted 26-7 to back the bill, which would add an unspecified fee to the wholesale price of a can of paint that would pay for a statewide "architectural paint stewardship" program to collect and recycle old, unused paint.
The program was conceived by paint manufacturers, among them Montvale-based Benjamin Moore, who would prefer to create their own program, rather than wait for a government recycling mandate, which might be run less efficiently, said Alison Keane, vice-president of government affairs for American Coatings Association, a Washington D.C.-based trade group.