Aerosols and  Recycling

Consumers want the products they buy to be effective, economical, and environmentally sound. Products that conserve resources and reduce waste are fast becoming the popular choice.

Aerosols have been around for almost 50 years, in America's bathrooms, kitchens, workshops, gardens, and institutions. But how do they fit in with the new emphasis on waste reduction and recycling?

Recycled and Recyclable

Almost 90 percent of aerosol cans are made of steel, and can be recycled along with other empty steel cans. Any paper labels or plastic parts are burned up when the can is melted down during recycling. Post-consumer steel cans-food, beverage, paint and aerosol containers-are in demand because steel furnaces required either 25 percent or 100 percent scrap metal in order to make new steel. Today's steel aerosol cans contain an average of 25 percent recycled content.
 
About 10 percent of aerosols are made of aluminum, which is also recycled and recyclable. Aluminum products can be differentiated from steel by holding them near a magnet; steel is magnetic, aluminum is not. All-aluminum aerosols, once the product inside has been used up, can be recycled along with other empty aluminum containers.

Consumers should check with their local recycler or community recycling coordinator on how to handle aerosol cans. Many recyclers and community recycling officials are not aware that aerosol containers can be recycled, but a growing number of communities have successfully included aerosol containers in their recycling programs. Consumers can help recycle more waste by encouraging their community recycling coordinator or waste management to accept empty aerosol cans along with other metal containers in the community's recycling program.

Both the Steel Can Recycling Institute (412-922-2772) and the Aluminum Association (202-862-5100) have information about the technology of recycling, as well as about regional resources for aerosol recycling.

Proper Disposal

Aerosols, like all household and personal care products, should be disposed of properly:

Use up all of the product you have purchased. Remember that, because aerosols are air tight, the contents will not spoil or evaporate, so you can use and store the product over long periods of time.

The best way to dispose of an empty aerosol container is to recycle it. A trace amount of the propellant or product left in the can does not present a hazard in today's industrial recycling facilities. The label warning against puncturing or incinerating an aerosol does not mean an empty aerosol container cannot be recycled.

If your community's curbside drop-off or buy-back recycling programs do not currently accept empty aerosol containers, urge them to include aerosols along with other recyclables. Until then, empty aerosols should be disposed of through normal solid waste collection systems and according to label directions.