An estimated 650 million metal aerosols are used in the UK each year, with over 80% of these likely to be consumed in households. Household aerosols should be captured through kerbside collection systems for recycling, alongside all other metal packaging.
The packaging waste landscape in the UK is changing. In the future non-beverage packaging, including aerosols, face ambitious mandatory recycling targets of 50% for aluminium and 85% for steel by 2030 under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Alupro has made a commitment to supporting the aerosols value chain in achieving these targets.
This report presents the details of research carried out by Resource Futures on behalf of the UK Aerosol Recycling Initiative that defines the roadmap for industry to meet this challenge.
This research answered four key questions:
- Where are the greatest losses of aerosols from the recycling stream and why?
- What are the greatest obstacles to increasing aerosol recycling?
- What are the potential solutions that enable increased recycling?
- What are the likely costs and readiness levels of the industry?
The findings have been developed from the results of a nationwide survey of over 2000 UK residents, detailed waste composition analyses in 9 local authorities, an assessment of how 17 local authorities communicate with their residents about aerosol recycling and 19 interviews with experts across the value chain.
KEY FINDINGS:
Nationwide Public Survey
- Council websites are the most common source of information used by respondents for aerosols recycling (45%), whilst 39% of respondents checked the packaging.
- 52% of people feel very or somewhat confident about the process of disposing of aerosols in their local area.
Waste Composition Analyses
- 56% of non-ferrous aerosols and 63% of ferrous aerosols were found in the recycling stream (as a % of the total aerosols found in the recycling + residual waste).
- Deodorants and air fresheners were the most prominent type of aerosols by weight.
- 85% of all discarded aerosols were classed as empty overall.
OUR PRIORITY ACTIONS:
Based on the evidence detailed in this report, numerous solutions were identified. To meet the challenge, the UK Aerosol Recycling Initiative has prioritised these five solutions for immediate action:
OUR LONG-TERM PLAN:
Our work has shown what could be done to achieve higher aerosol recycling rates in the UK. Our vision is a world where consumers recycle all of their empty aerosols responsibly in their kerbside system, with confidence that this will result in their packaging waste being collected, sorted, recycled and transformed into something new. It will take long term, sustained, collaboration to achieve this vision.
Download the full roadmap report below, join our initiative and come with us on our journey.
Download the roadmap report summary
Download full roadmap report
