Recycling & Circularity

Aerosol containers are generally made from steel or aluminium – recyclable materials with established market demand. Recycling is FEA’s preferred route to recover the value of used (i.e. empty) aerosols. FEA advocates that empty aerosols should be included in recycling schemes. The current recycling trend shows that empty aerosols can be included safely in the normal household waste packaging stream. As a result, large numbers of post-consumer aerosols are already being recycled successfully around the world.

The following key points summarize the current situation concerning empty aerosols in the household packaging waste stream:

  • All aerosols in the household packaging waste stream are consumer products (of which 70% are personal care)
  •  Only 2 aerosol cans are found in 1m3 of mixed packaging waste
  • For the majority of empty aerosols, the residual contents are less than 3% by weight
  •  During waste collection, transport and handling at the material recycling facilities (MRFs), the risk of fire or explosion from empty aerosols is low and readily manageable unless they are concentrated by separate collection
  • Empty aerosols sorted from the total metals fraction of waste at the MRF represent less than 5% by weight out of all metal containers such as cans for beverages, food, pet food and the like

Several reports support these facts:

  •  Assessment of the Hazards associated with the recycling of retail aerosol containers, Burgoyne Consultants Ltd, 1992 (UK)
  •  Les aérosols en déchetterie, LEREM, 1993 (France)
  • Gevarenanalyse van de toepassing van blikbollen als inzamelpunt voor metalen verpakkingen, TNO, 1993 (The Netherlands)
  •  Untersuchnung des Gefährdungspotentials bei der Sammlung, Sortierung und Verwertung von gebrauchen Aerosoldosen im Dualen System, TÜV, 1994 (Germany)
  •  Recycling aerosol cans: a risk assessment (executive summary), Factory Mutual, 1996 (USA)
  • The use of can flatteners in MRFs for processing material including post consumer aerosol cans, PPS Recovery Systems Ltd, 1999 (UK)
  •  Health and safety issues in post-consumer aerosol container recycling, PPS Recovery Systems Ltd, 2000 (UK)
  • Toetsingsmodel kwantitatieve en kwalitatieve evaluatie selectieve inzameling: Toetsing van de selectieve inzameling van spuitbussen ingezameld via de gemeentelijke kanalen, Universiteit Gent, 2009 (Belgium)

The conclusions from these studies remains valid today under the described conditions.

Some are more recent and based on various guides published in view to increase collection and prepare for next generations of MRF:

  • Guide de recommandations pour l’amélioration du tri des emballages en acier et aluminium dans le cadre de la modernisation des centres de tri, ADEME – Citeo – ArcelorMittal – Far/Celaa, 2018 (France).
  • Evaluation du risque d’incendie / d’explosion lors de la mise en balles d’aérosols plastiques, INERIS, 2020 (France).
  • Seconde campagne d’évaluation du risque d’incendie/d’explosion liée à la mise en balles d’aérosols plastiques, INERIS, 2020 (France).
  • Studio dei potenziali effetti derivanti dalla presenza di bombolette aerosol adeguatamente svuotate all’interno della filiera di riciclo dei rifiuti di imballagio in acciaio in alluminio, TÜV, 2020 (Italy).

In several countries, subsequent experience has demonstrated the value of these studies.

FEA welcomes the Commission’s communication entitled ‘A European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy’ as a step forward in the EU’s transition from a linear towards a circular economy. FEA’s vision for plastic aerosols fits into this strategy. New technologies have emerged to further facilitate recycling and circularity.

Currently PET aerosols dispensers placed on the EU single market usually contain metal valve components. FEA has launched a voluntary initiative to replace these with PET aerosol dispensers that contain no metal or non-floatable plastic components except PET, and which fully aligns to the European PET Bottle Platform (EPBP) Design for Recycling Guidelines.