The paint industry is continuously striving to reduce its environmental impact, especially when it comes to the major virgin white pigment, titanium dioxide (TiO2). In this work, recycled TiO2 pigment was used in a paint formulation as a replacement for pigment made from virgin raw materials. The paint was evaluated based on pH, Stormer and ICI viscosities, gloss, hiding power, and color characteristics. The paint films were also characterized by LVSEM–EDS, AFM, and profilometry. The most significant difference between a paint based on recycled pigments and a paint based on virgin pigments was the agglomeration of pigment particles which gave a reduction in gloss and a rougher surface of the dried paint film based on recycled pigment, and it could be concluded that the recycled pigment could not be used without accepting a small decrease in paint quality. This points toward two main directions: (1) the use of recycled pigment in applications with less demand on surface finish and gloss, such as ceiling paints, and (2) that further work on formulation should be carried out with the recycled pigment as for any other new pigment introduced in a paint formulation to optimize its performance. © 2018, The Author(s).