Suez and Alupro join forces on UK aerosol recycling partnership 

05 Jul 2024 --- UK recycling firm Suez has signed a two-year partnership with aluminum packaging company Alupro to increase aerosol recycling rates in the UK. The venture will collect data throughout the country and establish education programs to aid consumers with disposal and establish a baseline target for national kerbside collection. 

Alupro estimates that 650 million metal aerosols are used in the UK each year, with over 80% used in the home. Upcoming reforms to packaging recycling in the UK, including a deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers and an extended producer responsibility (EPR), present an opportunity for the metal packaging sector to improve recycling efforts, the company says. 

The aluminum packaging recycling rate for 2023 was 68%. However, Alupro’s research shows many people are unsure of how to dispose of aerosols, and as a result, fewer aerosols are disposed of in household recycling collections compared to most other forms of metal packaging. 

In 2023, the Environmental Services Association found that 18% of the UK population admitted to throwing aerosols in their normal trash bin. 

“With the 50% aluminum recycling target coming in the near future under EPR, excluding drinks containers, it’s imperative that we maximize the recycling rates of aerosols through establishing a baseline recycling rate and improving public understanding,” says John Scanlon, CEO at Suez recycling and recovery UK. 

Data and education 
The partnership project will provide data and case studies on how to increase the capture, sorting and treatment of aerosols. The first phase, over the next 12 months, will see Suez recruit three local authorities in different areas across the UK to monitor and analyze aerosol capture rates before a trial phase starting in 2025. 

The following phase of the trial will see a year-long sampling exercise measuring the quantities of aerosols collected through both the residual and recycling kerbside streams, and looking into the challenges of sorting and analyzing aerosols collected through the kerbside system. Further, the year will see the trialing of a new communications campaign to consumers to boost aerosol recycling.

This project will aim to improve public knowledge around best practice recycling, establish a baseline recycling rate and roadmap for achieving higher future rates for aerosol recycling, and seek to stimulate substantial long-term investment into recycling infrastructure.

Partners
Led by Alupro, the UK Aerosol Recycling Initiative brings together partners from across the aerosols value chain. These partners include Suez recycling and recovery UK, Ball Aerosol Packaging, Trivium Packaging, the British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association, packaging compliance scheme Ecosurety, consumer brand Henkel, valve manufacturer Lindal Group, The Materials Processing Institute, waste company Clean Eco and processors of reclaimed metal Tandom Metallurgical Group and Tata Steel.

“This communications, collections and sorting trial represents the next big milestone on our roadmap to higher recycling rates for aerosols, and we’re delighted to partner with Suez, whose expertise in delivering innovative projects led us to approach them to help us with this,” says Tom Giddings, executive director at Alupro. 

“We’re excited to see the results of the trial as they develop and to use them to build a blueprint for higher recycling rates. Hopefully, the UK Aerosol Recycling Initiative will serve as a template for how responsible industries can collaborate to bring the circular economy to life; after all, metal is the perfect material for recycling again and again, so we should be minimizing how much we waste.”