Hiding in the back of garages and garden sheds all over the country are tins of old paint.

And while some of that paint is saved for future touch-up jobs around the house, much of it ends up in landfill.

Annually, Australians throw away around 7.3 million litres of unused paint.

In a bid to divert the waste, paint manufacturers have joined forces to establish a collection and treatment service.

There is no charge to dispose unwanted paint and the scheme is open to anyone. ( ABC Radio Canberra: Hannah Walmsley )

After one year in operation, the not-for-profit organisation Paintback has now been set up in more than 50 locations around the country.

"To date, we've diverted more than 4 million kilograms of paint and packaging from landfill," Paintback chief executive Karen Gomez told ABC Radio Canberra.

This week, the service launched in Canberra at the Mitchell and Mugga Lane waste management depots.

"The packaging to start off with is about half of what we collect — the steel and the plastic cans," Ms Gomez said.

"These things can be recycled and we shouldn't be throwing them away because they're not waste.

"Within solvent paint and acrylic-based paint there are valuable materials in there that can be reused."

Households and trade painters can take paint to Paintback sites in waste management centres around the country. ( ABC Radio Canberra: Hannah Walmsley )

The program is funded by a 15 cent per litre levy on products sold by Australia's major paint manufacturers.

That levy funds the collection and treatment of waste paint and packaging.

"We're also investing in research to try and improve the way in which we use the resources and get 100 per cent recovery," Ms Gomez said.

Trade painters and consumers can recycle up to 100 litres of paint with each visit at the recycling depots.

"Paintback will regularly pick up the paint from each site and take it to be treated and recycled," Ms Gomez said.