We’ve all wandered into the local DIY superstore and browsed the aisles and aisles of paints. There is another way though, here’s the story behind Newlife Paints.

When cleaning out his garage some years ago, Keith Harrison, discovered many tins of partly used old paint which needed disposing of. As an experienced industrial chemist, he felt uncomfortable about the waste of so much of a commodity that was a potentially valuable resource. Newlife Paints was born.

Newlife Paints was founded in 2008 for the express purpose of collecting waste emulsion paint and remanufacturing it to produce commercial grade paint using a special process developed in our laboratory.

Recent estimates have concluded that some 14% (or over 50 million litres) of paint sold last year is unused or stored in our garages, sheds and cupboards. A very substantial amount of this unused paint ends up either in landfill or incinerated.

The colour range shown here reflects the range of colours discarded as waste in the UK. There’s something so very quirky about painting in popular but wasted colours.