Aerosol cans found in the home or office can include products such as deodorants, hair sprays, cleaning products and insect sprays. Each Australian purchases and uses approximately 10 aerosol cans each year. But what happens after these cans have been used – how should we dispose of them?
There may be a bit of a misconception in regards to aerosol can disposal in that some people believe aerosol cans are not able to be recycled. They may think the aerosol cans might explode in the recycling bin or that the cans are not made of recyclable material.
The truth is all aerosol cans (as long as they are empty) can be thrown in with your mixed/commingled recycling bin. Aerosol cans are made from steel and aluminium so the process of recycling once they reach the MRF is just the same as your soft drink cans or tins of baked beans!
One thing to make sure of however is that the aerosol can is empty (and please do not pierce or puncture the can). By empty we just mean that it no longer sprays (you may still feel a small amount of liquid in the bottom of the can but that is OK). If you are a business and have a decent quantity of aerosol cans that still have contents in them but you would like to dispose of them responsibly, KS Environmental can help you out with this – please contact us.
For the home there is a great scheme run by Sustainability Victoria called ‘Detox Your Home’ whereby Victorian households are able to safely dispose of household chemicals including full aerosol cans. Check out their website for more details.
Next time you are holding that empty aerosol can make sure you save it from heading unnecessarily to landfill – simply chuck it in with your mixed recycling…
For any further information on aerosol can recycling or recycling services KS Environmental can offer you please contact us.
Sources: Planet Ark