Everyone’s got a few dusty tins in the shed.

If you’re guilty of hoarding half-empty tins of paint “just in case” you ever need them, now there’s an environmentally-friendly new way to clear some space on your shelves.

Householders have traditionally brought their leftover paint to their local Civic Amenity Site for disposal but now a new pilot Community Paint Re-Use Scheme will see old paint turned into new paint to be used in the community.

Cork City Council and Cork County Council have received funding from the EPA’s Local Authority Prevention Network (LAPN) programme for the joint scheme, which will see unused water-based paints in Civic Amenity Sites diverted towards one of two social enterprises.

Northside Community Enterprise (NCE) in Farranferris, Cork City and Cycle Sense based in Skibbereen, will then filter, remix, recolour and repackage the paint before selling it at reduced rates in the local community.

The pilot project will involve the City Council’s Civic Amenity Site at Kinsale Road and three of Cork County’s eleven Civic Amenity sites; two in West Cork at Derryconnell and Clonakilty and one in East Cork at Raffeen.

The unique collaboration will divert paint from disposal and incineration to provide affordable, good quality paint for reuse in the local community.

“Not only will the project benefit our environment, but it will also deliver economically in terms of job creation and reduced costs for the community groups and individuals who use the paint.” said a Council spokesperson.

A similar scheme run by the Rediscovery Centre in Dublin has been hugely successful and will provide mentoring for the new Cork scheme, which is expected to begin this month.