Towns across Franklin County have signed letters in support of a paint recycling bill that advocates say could save municipalities money and help protect the environment.

Bernardston, Northfield, Montague, Deerfield, Sunderland and Hawley have signed letters pledging their support for “An act relative to paint recycling,” (H.823/S.551), according to a fact sheet on the bill from Sen. Jo Comerford’s office.

“Recycling paint through the PaintCare program ... will lower disposal costs for taxpayers, keep our waterways clean, and reduce the amount of hazardous waste going to landfills and incinerators,” the fact sheet reads. The nonprofit PaintCare represents paint manufacturers to help plan and operate paint stewardship programs throughout the United States.

How the paint stewardship system works is all participating paint retailers collect a point-of-sale fee of less than $1.25 per gallon. Those collected funds are managed by PaintCare, according to Comerford’s office. The money is used to establish paint collection sites, transport it for processing and distribute public education materials on the proper management of paint. Retailers can choose to opt in to the program and can be compensated by PaintCare.

Franklin County Solid Waste Management District Executive Director Jan Ameen has been a proponent of this legislation for more than a decade. She said this year has seen the most forward momentum thus far.

“I think this is probably the most coordinated effort to date, and so it kind of has the best chance,” Ameen said.

Ameen said the legislation would benefit municipalities in several ways.

Notably, she said its passage would allow for municipalities to save money on hosting specific days for paint drop-off, which residents contribute to through taxes. Should the legislation be signed into law, paint retailers could accept the paint at any time of year.

Ameen also noted that year-round paint collection allows for greater convenience for residents, and will allow for collections of more dangerous types of waste such as pesticides to take priority during hazardous waste disposal days. Last year, $20,000 was spent on a hazardous waste collection in September. One-third of that cost — roughly $6,500 — was for paint, Ameen said. Over 25 years of holding the collection, the money spent on paint has added up.

“We’ve been doing this collection since 1999, so 25 years of paying for paint disposal,” Ameen said. “Thirty percent of the cost is paint, but that could be used to pay for pesticides or automotive products that are more dangerous kinds of waste that we really want to get out of the waste stream.”

In Northfield, the Selectboard signed its letter of support on July 16, just days after the Bernardston Selectboard did the same on July 10. The Montague Selectboard unanimously signaled its support for the legislation on July 22.

“Paint is one of the most common items disposed of at hazardous waste collections,” the letters read. “This legislation is revenue-neutral and establishes sustainable funding for recycling or proper disposal of paint. ... This is a commonsense program [that] is a win for residents, homeowners and municipalities.”

Already, 11 states and Washington D.C. have implemented paint stewardship laws, according to the fact sheet from Comerford’s office. This includes many states in New England and the Northeast such as New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont and Maine. Maryland adopted the law in May of this year.

Paint stewardship programs have saved governments and taxpayers nearly $300 million by establishing more than 2,300 collection sites, according to Product Stewardship Institute, a nonprofit based in Boston.

Ameen noted that if smaller municipalities like in Franklin County and larger cities in eastern Massachusetts show their support, this legislation has a greater chance of being heard by the Ways and Means Committee, which would then decide whether to send it on to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

“We’re really trying to show those people that this is supported,” Ameen said, “why it’s supported, and how it benefits residents and municipalities.”

Erin-Leigh Hoffman can be reached at ehoffman@recorder.com.