Aerosol recycling and recovery
The AeroPak aerosol reprocessing facility represents the most advanced aerosol recycling technology in the world, offering the highest levels of materials recovery and the lowest emissions to the environment.
How are aerosols recycled?
There is barely an area of industry, retail or commerce which doesn’t utilise aerosols in one shape or form. From an environmental perspective, this facility helps drive valuable resources up the waste hierarchy and promotes increased recycling.
The AeroPak uses specialist compaction technology which operates within an inert nitrogen atmosphere. It also features a highly efficient extraction system, which is linked to the facility’s Regenerative Thermal Oxidiser (RTO), meaning it has minimal effect on the environment.
This means that every component is recycled or reprocessed in a completely sealed and safe oxygen free environment, with zero emissions released into the atmosphere and any risk of fire is kept to an absolute minimum.
Our aerosol recycling facility enables metal from the cans to be sent for recycling; while liquids (such as hairspray, deodorants or paint) are separated for specialist recovery or recycling; and the propellants (such as butane or propane) are collected and used to fuel in-house operations and/or generate electricity.
The AeroPak facility helps to drive materials up the waste hierarchy, supporting the circular economy and promoting increased recycling and recovery rates.
What are the benefits of using the AeroPak’s advanced aerosol recycling and reprocessing technology?
The AeroPak offers a much safer way to dispose of aerosols when compared with other methods such as shredding. The aerosols are compacted in a completely sealed and totally safe inert nitrogen atmosphere. By compacting them in an oxygen free environment, any risk for fire is kept to an absolute minimum.
What other materials can the AeroPak process?
The AeroPak isn’t limited to simply reprocessing aerosols; it can also recover tins of paint, oil filters, varnishes, ink and small gas cylinders, allowing its impact to be felt much more widely across the manufacturing sector.
It has also created significant interest from the pharmaceutical sector, after achieving a world first in being able to recover the specialist gases from asthma inhalers, enabling their recycling, along with the metal containers.
As well as being able to recycle the aluminium canisters, the AeroPak is also able to recover the valuable R134a propellant gases contained inside. Once cleaned and analysed, these high quality gases are sold to air conditioning manufacturers, where they are highly-sought after for use in air conditioning units. This is a win-win for both the pharmaceutical company and the air conditioning manufacturer, and for the environment.
What type of businesses would benefit from using the AeroPak aerosol recycling facility?
Any organisation that produce, use or collect waste aerosols could benefit from our aerosol recycling facility. These include numerous commercial organisations, other waste management companies, local authorities and the public.
In 2024, the British Aerosol Manufacturers Association (BAMA) reported that 1.45 billion aerosols were produced in the UK.
The AeroPak can process waste from a range of sources including aerosol manufacturers and fillers, retail and warehousing, , as well as separately collected aerosols from the public.
With a daily treatment capacity of approximately 40 cubic metres, this represents a significant asset to the UK’s ability to manage its own wastes.