Recycling Aerosol Cans
By Karina | August 30, 2010
I just got back from a beach vacation, and as a redhead with fair skinwhile I have a lot of things to say about sunblock in general, I will say this: it is much easier to keep the little kids protected from sunburn by using aerosol cans of sunblock spray instead of subjecting them to lotion lotion lotion.
So of course, after making that decision I found myself where Jenn and I often do – wondering if it was the right choice, and even if it wasn’t, how I could make it better.
First I refreshed myself on why we all generally steer away from aerosol cans. I mean – they’re made of metal, right? which I normally always buy when given a choice between metal or plastic (see: infrequent purchases of coke in a can, but never in a bottle).
Of course the big concern with aerosol cans was the CFCs – which are ozone depleting chemicals, and conveniently, a very effective propellant (used to get the product to spray out of the aerosol can). In the 80s teased bang hairstyles were threatened by the hole in the ozone, and responsible teenyboppers switched to pump hair spray. Please, PLEASE, don’t ask me how I know this. These days, though, if something is related closely to food or body care the propellants are more inert – usually propane or butane (though flammable) or CO2 or nitrous oxide. Interestingly, the aerosol products industry group reports that in recent studies 7 out of 10 American’s think that CFCs are still present in aerosol cans! Even though this has been outlawed for several decades in the US.
So if the problem isn’t the ozone then it stands to reason that the aerosol can may be the more appropriate choice over a plastic bottle, right? But how to take care of end-of-life issues?
Earth911 points out that I should be able to recycle at the local level, as long as the can is actually empty:
- Be sure that the can is empty. This means that all of the product has to be used up.
- Dispose of the empty cans using your curbside pick up service or by visiting your local drop off centers. It is best to touch base with your local centers to be sure they accept this type of product for recycling.
- NEVER throw aerosol cans in roadside dumps or trash fires. These cans are still pressurized and can explode.
So next I checked my local recycling requirements:
Glass, Plastic, Tin & Aluminum Recycling
- Glass Bottles: Clear, green and brown glass. The bottles and jars must be empty, rinsed and without caps and rings. Labels may be left on.
- Metal Cans: Tin and aluminum food and drink cans must be empty and rinsed. Labels must be removed.
- Plastic Containers: Plastic soda, milk, juice, shampoo and detergent bottles must be empty, rinsed and without caps. ONLY those bottles marked on the bottom with numerals 1 thru 7 inside a triangle will be taken. The numbers refer to the seven kinds of plastic.
- Milk/Orange Juice Cartons: Straws from juice boxes are to be thrown in with the regular trash.
- Aluminum Foil/Aluminum Pie Plates: Foil/Plates encrusted with food are to be thrown in with the regular trash.
- White Refrigerated/Frozen Food Containers: Includes frozen vegetables, ice cream and butter containers
So my local recycling doesn’t say anything about aerosol cans at all. Which means I guess I’ll have to give them a call and see what they say.
My research turned up another resource, though, which is interesting and hugely useful for people with limited municipal recycling options: 1800recycling.com has a very useful search feature on their website that looks up where you can recycle hard to recycle materials. I put in my location and came up with this:
And… it turns out that there isn’t anything immediately nearby, so I’m pretty much stuck hoping that my municipality actually DOES recycle aerosol cans, and if they don’t, that my workplace will take them. On the other hand, I did download an iphone app from 1800recycling.com that will tell me where all the local recycling is for all those weird things I find myself having to recycle while on vacation, which is super, and much much needed.
Have you found yourself questioning the disposal of a product lately?
[[Photo from flickr user Scott Witt via creative commons license. And by the way, I really enjoyed finding this set of graffiti art on flickr as well.]]
Topics: Waste | 5 Comments »
You’re right, there is a proper way to dispose of aerosol cans and most people don’t take the time to try to figure it out. The main threat aerosol cans pose to the environment is improper disposal. It’s our goal to make sure they’re recycled. The Aerosolv Aerosol Can Recycling System transforms these pressurized–and therefore hazardous–containers into recyclable scrap metal, by simply putting a hole in the can and relieving the pressure, while filtering the Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and collecting the liquids…all in about 15 seconds. Aerosolv is the only aerosol can recycling technology certified by the joint U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California EPA Environmental Technology Verification and Certification program. It’s not something appropriate for the home, but it is used by thousands of industries worldwide that utilize aerosol cans; including Waste Management and Household Hazardous Waste facilities.
If your local municipality does not recycle aerosol cans, I’d suggest you refer them to the Aerosolv website. Besides being useful for recycling aerosol cans, the collected liquids can be recycled as well–they’re often used for fuel blend. Aerosolv is the safe and easy way to recycle aerosol cans. Go to wwww.aerosolv.com for more information. Spread the word!
broke a(nother) wine glass last night … i hovered over the garbage and recycling bins wondering …
thanks for the tip on the iphone app … downloading now. :)
In addition to the disposing of the aerosol can issue, many of the ingredients in sunscreen are pretty dangerous in aerosol form. Unlike lotion, the aerosol produces tiny little particles that you really don’t want to inhale. Your lungs may thank you for putting up with the hassle of the lotion!
YES! Aerosol sunscreen is the worst offender in bad for the person sunscreens – so not ONLY are you inhaling the nano-particles, some of the ingredients in the sunscreen itself can encourage skin cancer if it is already present. Also, they are also containing chemicals that are not good for people either – the EWG group did a study and ranked all the sunscreens.
http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/