Publication V

Missing A Resource? Maximize Steel Collection With Aerosol Recycling

By Edgar Miller, The National Recycling Coalition; Curt Kemppainen, Solid Waste Association of North America; Terry Grist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Bill Heenan, Steel Recycling Institute; and other contributing authors

Prepared for The United States Conference of Mayors and the Municipal Waste Management Association


Contributing Authors Ralph Engel, Chemical Specialties Manufacturers Association Dan Regan, Sacramento County Spencer Bennett, Advanced Recycling Calvin Tigchelaar, Resource Management Enterprises, Inc. J. Thomas Benson, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc. Greg Crawford, Steel Recycling Institute

The Municipal Waste Management Association (MWMA) is a national membership association affiliated with The United States Conference of Mayors. The MWMA brings together local governments and other organizations with a common interest in the management of municipal solid waste through reduction, recovery, reuse and recycling of materials and energy from the waste stream. This publication is one of a series of publications which will be released throughout the year. The publication series was designed to assist individuals who are concerned with solid waste issues. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily the views of the Municipal Waste Management Association. March 1994


Contents
Introduction .................................................2 A Municipal Solution ................................... Curbside Collection and Collecting in the Scrap Metal Industry 3 Processing...........5

........... 7 Aerosol Can Facts ....................................... 8 Steel Can Recycling Including Empty Aerosols ... 9
Steel: The Most Widely Recycled Product In The World

...........................................

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The Role Of Municipal Solid Waste Managers ... 1 2 EPA's Guidelines O n Managing Municipal

............................................ 13 Conclusion ................................................ 14
Solid Waste

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Introduction
ecycling materials from municipal solid waste has-emerged as an important tool for reducing waste and conserving natural resources. A significant number ofcommunities around the country have established collection programs for numerous recyclable materials generated by their citizens. These programs have become more popular as local governments seek to achieve state and national recycling goals. Paramount to the success of these programs is their cost effectiveness and the existence of end uses for the materials collected. Generally, revenues from the sale of collected materials have not been adequate to cover the costs of collecting and processing t h e material for remanufacturing. However, when combined with the money saved as a result of not having to dispose of the material, recycling many materials has proven cost effective. Steel recycling, and specifically the recycling of steel food and beverage cans, has been an economic "winner" for municipal recycling programs. Low processing costs, consistent scrap values and

by Edgar Miller
plentiful end markets, continue to make steel can recycling a cost effective option for local governments. Through a program of public education, research and technical and financial assistance, the steel industry has been a successful partner in the establishment and expansion of the infrastructure necessary to increase steel can recycling. The steel industry has established aggressive recycling goals for post consumer steel cans because of their high consumer visibility. The industry's goal is to increase the steel can recycling rate to 66% by the end of 1995, the overall recycling rate for other steel products (automobiles, appliances, etc.). In order to achieve this ambitious goal the industry has developed partnerships with local and regional governments to assist their communities in reaching their mutual objectives. Local governments have responded by adding steel cans to their recycling programs, and in turn have made their recycling programs more cost effective while diverting more materials from the waste stream.

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A.

Q

Are there ready markets for recycled aerosol cans?

Yes. Steel cans, including empty aerosol cans, are a good

source of high grade recyclable steel. Steel mills and foundries need more of this quality scrap steel.


To achieve its objective, the industry is targeting other cans in addition to food and beverage, to increase steel can recycling. After conducting thorough research, the industry i? recommending the inclusion ofaerosol cans in municipal recycling programs. Aerosol cans comprise up to seven percent of the steel cans produced, and while challenges do exist in the processing and handling of these materials, the industry's research indicates that these challenges can be met. The industry has demonstrated that aerosol can recycling can be done safely and economically.

The following overview provides insight into a local government's decision to recycle aerosol cans, discusses methods for collecting and processing empty aerosol cans and includes information on the. steel manufacturing and recycling process.' How steel can recycling fits into integrated solid waste management and the solid waste management hierarchy is also addressed. It is hoped that this document will assist local government recycling programs make the decision to add aerosol cans to their recycling programs to meet their recycling goals.

A Municipal Solution
acramento County, California, has a recycling program typical of many throughout the country. Their service currently provides weekly 3-bin curbside recycling to 160,000 unincorporated area single family and duplex homes. The program accepts the typical materials that most curbside programs collect: newspaper, glass, aluminum cans, plastic bottles and steel cans. The County also collects used motor oil and corrugated cardboard, and began accepting aerosol cans in November, 1993. Smurfit Recycling Company has a contract with the County to off-load recycling trucks and to process and market all recyclable materials collected by the curbside program. In November, 1993,Sacramento County implemented a campaign to increase

by Dan Regan
awareness of steel can recycling and inform residents that empty steel aerosol cans were being added to the curbside program. The Steel Recycling Institute and the aerosol industry agreed to be partners in this promotional effort. In addition, the City of Sacramento, which provides curbside recycling service to 100,000single family and duplex homes, joined the campaign effort. The reasons Sacramento implemented the steel and empty aerosol campaign are: 1) reduce the number of aerosol cans going to landfills, 2) fewer aerosol cans would be taken to city/county Household Hazardous Waste collection sites where HHW disposal was expensive, and 3 ) private industry was willing to work cooperatively on the campaign.

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A

Q.

Aren't aerosols household hazardous waste?

No. Household wastes, including aerosol cans, are exempt from the.

Resource Recovery Act's (RCRA) Federal definitions of hazardous waste [40 CFR 261.4 (b) (l)] Empty aerosol cans should be recycled. In some states, empty aerosol products may be incorrectly categorized as household hazardous waste ( H H W ) due to an inappropriate application of RCRA standards to household containers. Classifying empty aerosol cans as H H W would not only be incorrect, i t would create an unnecessary and costly disposal alternative.

The County worked with a local public information firm to increase general awareness of steel can recycling and inform residents that empty aerosol cans had been included in the recycling mix. The public awareness campaign consisted of five components:

talkers were produced and placed in front ofsteel aerosol can products in each store. In addition, information concerning the campaign was sent to each store's marketing manager, and employees received instructions and a campaign button. Billing Inserts: A printed piece was developed and distributed to 260,000 city and county residents via utility bill inserts. T r u c k Signs: The county's fleet of 110 refuse and recycling vehicles posted a 3'x 8' transit sign that was similar in look to the shelf talker and billing insert.

Free Media: Efforts involved distribution of a news advisory and media package that included empty aerosol cans.
Radio: Paid radio spots were the core element of the campaign. Radio spots were produced and run during a four week period on five local stations including a Spanish language station. In addition to the paid spots, no charge valueadded promotions worth more than $15,000 were negotiated with all stations.

Initial statistics concerning thecampaign effort showed a 40-50% increase in the overall amount of steel cans collected. This additional volume was achieved Retailer Cooperative Campaign: because of adding empty aerosols and the Forty-five Sacramento area grocery stores steel can promotional campaign itself. also participated in the campaign. Shelf (See graph 1 on next page)

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Curbside Collection and Processing
urbside collection of residential recyclable material has in many parts of the United States become a mainstream element of an overall solid waste handling strategy for communities, counties and regions. As government and private sector concerns strive to incorporate efficient collection and processing systems, commingled collection (as opposed to curbsorting) has become a common method of handling residential recyclable materials. This system typically involves the collection of two streams of material (paper and non-paper) which are loaded into a two-compartment collection vehicle. Each of these streams contains a mixture of items; the non-paper stream

byCalvin Tigchelaar

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may consist of steel and aluminum cans; plastic containers; clear, brown and green glass; and other non-paper recyclables. The paper stream generally consists of newspaper and a variety of other fiber (corrugated cardboard, chipboard, magazines, etc.). Following the collection phase, the commingled material must be sorted and densified for sale and delivery by secondary processors. This activity takes place at a Material Recovery Facility (MRF), a facili ty whose function is to accept commingled material, segregate like items, densify those items for transport and market, and ship the recovered material to other brokerprocessors or final markets. In most cases there are three forces which

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drive residential recycling. These forces are: a willingness on the part of the general public to assume some level of accountability for the reuse of their discards, government concern with the long term costs of current disposal practices, and demand in the marketplace for many of the items currently recycled (steel cans, aluminum cans, newsprint,plastics, etc.). T o respond positively to each of these forces, residential collection of recyclable material needs to be maximized. Once the decision has been made to implement a collection program, every attempt should be made to maximize the effect of that program by encouraging 100% participation. Attempts should also be made to include all items in the collection program which are readily recyclable and for which there exist solid markets. One example of an item which is often overlooked in otherwise extensive recycling programs is aerosol cans. These cans

are 1)commonly found i n the residential waste stream, 2) can be safely collected at almost no additional cost to the collector, 3) processed at any MRF in a automated manner using over-head magnets and high density baling presses, 4 )part of the steel can stream, and therefore one of the most steadily marketable residential recyclables nationwide. The proper place for empty aerosols is in the curbside collection stream; not the landfill or Household Hazardous Waste program. While great strides have been made in upgrading solid waste management practices in many parts of the country in recent years, much work still needs to be done. Maximizing residential recycling by implementing programs which include the collection of all easily recyclable post-consumer materials is one of the cornerstones of any responsible solid waste planning effort.

Guidelines For Processing of Empty Aerosols
With more than 600 municipal locations now recycling empty aerosols - some programs operational for several years - there is good evidence that these containers can and are being safely processed. Research conducted and published supports that conclusion. (see Aerosol Recycling Research Results, page 15) Some containers presented for recycling, including aerosol containers, may have residual flammable vapors present even though they are classified as empty. Aerosols account for a small percentage - generally 3-5% - of the residential recycling stream. The presence of flammable vapors regardless of the source dictates that reasonable and standard safety precautions should be followed. Typical precautions observed in processing facilities - whether they contain empty aerosols or not - include: no smoking, no fire or flame, good ventilation, access to fire extinguishers, routine cleaning and maintenance of equipment and appropriate worker training and supervision. Communication to residents should also stress that containers of any materials submitted for recycling-be it glass, plastic, aluminum or steel - m u s t be empty and that includes aerosol cans. Empty means empty, regardless of the container type. Because more and more processors are either accepting empty aerosols or considering adding them, the waste management, steel recycling and aerosol industries are working to formalize the recommended guidelines for the continued safe handling of empty aerosols.
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Collecting in the Scrap Metal Industry
by Spencer Bennett
he scrap metal industry has long played an integral part in the growth of America. To date, i t is leading the way in promoting the recycling of aerosol cans as a component of steel can recycling. Steel is easily our nation's most recycled material, and the scrap metal industry is proud of this achievement. But beyond theday-to-day business, thiscompetitive industry is driven toward one goal: growth. The scrap metal industry's goal is to capture all the steel cans sold. The aerosol can adds an important component to the steel category. In New Hampshire, for over three years, approximately 40 communities have included aerosol cans in the steel mixture. This work has been achieved in cooperation with the New Hampshire Resource Recovery Association, a nonprofit marketing collective. The aerosol cans comprise approximately five percent of the steel can component from member com-

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munities and include an increasing number of aluminum aerosol cans. The steel cans are easily separated by utilizing magnetic separation equipment. As the cans arrive at the scrap metal dealer, all steel cans including aerosol cans are accumulated, then baled into high density cubes of 75 1b./c.f. These bales are then sent to the steel mill to be consumed in producing new steel. In New Hampshire air quality tests and personal exposure monitoring has been performed at several transfer stations and at the processing yard to assure proper safety standards. Aerosol cans are being collected as an integral component of the steel mixture. The New Hampshire tests suggests that consumers need to be informed that only empty cans should be recycled. Full or partially full cans, aerosols or not, do not belong in the recycling stream and are perhaps better handled through local special collection programs.

environmental standpoint, to use all of the product in the can and if you can't, give it to someone who can. If a full can is inoperable, people should return the can to the original place of purchase for a refund. This minimizes the possibility of a full or partially full aerosol container entering the recycling process. By continuing to properly educate consumers that only empty aerosol containers are accepted for recycling helps insure this as well. Full aerosols may also be processed through local special collection programs.
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A.

Q

.What

if Ihavea fill aerosol canthat I want to dispose of?

Of course, it's always best, from both an economical and


Aerosol Can Facts
oncern for our environment has caused most consumers, at one time or another, to question the products we buy and use. Whether it is disinfectants for the bathroom or hornet spray for the porch eaves, we are examining our world through "green-colored glasses." Across the country, efforts are underway to help the environment by using and properly disposing of, or recycling, certain materials and packaging. Consumers need the real environmental facts about the products they use -and they want products that continue to be effective as well. Aerosol products, in use for more than fifty years, meet both objectives. An aerosol is a pressurized container that dispenses a substance, such as a disinfectant, a hairspray, shaving cream, or a furniture polish when the actuator button is pushed and the valve is opened. This simple process releases the internal pressure and pushes out the proper amount of product. In addition to convenience in dispensing the product, aerosol containers more importantly ensure that the product won't spill, evaporate or go stale because the container is hermetically sealed - which also protects the contents from contamination and tampering. Aerosol products literally can be applied at the touch of a button, in controlled, pre-mixed doses - especially useful for medications, disinfectants and pest control products. In the mid 1970s, scientists discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) might harm the Earth's stratospheric ozone layer. In response to environmental de-

by Ralph Engel
mands from the marketplace and regulations, the aerosol industry set a new standard by eliminating CFC propellants. By 1978, when theU.S. government banned CFC propellants in virtually all aerosols, most American aerosol producers were already using naturally occurring hydrocarbons or compressed gasses as propellants. Today, the U.S. aerosol industry, which produces about 3 billion units a year and employs more than 50,000 people, continues to provide information on domestic spray products being CFC-free. Consumers' search for better environmental answers sometimes runs afoul of the facts, and many consumers unfortunately still believe, erroneously, that U.S. aerosols contain CFCs, which they do not. A few essential medical treatments-less s as than 1 %- uch bronchial inhalers have a federal exemption from CFC regulations. Another environmental benefit of the aerosol package is its recyclability. Consumer concern about solid waste disposal has increased demand for recyclable packaging, and aerosols were ready-made to meet the call for recycling by consumers and solid waste managers alike. More than 90% of aerosol cans are steel - the rest are aluminum - a n dboth kinds can be recycled with other steel and aluminum products. The aerosol, steel and aluminum industries have been working hard to educate recyclers, communities and consumers that empty aerosol cans should be recycled.

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Steel Can Recycling Including Empty Aerosols

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by Greg Crawford

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he objectives of recycling are to reduce the amount of solid waste going to the landfills, while also saving energy and preserving natural resources. Steel can recycling accomplishes these objectives in more than 8,700 curbside a n d drop-off collection p r o g r a m s throughout t h e nation a n d 2 , 6 0 0 buyback centers. In addition, one in every six steel cans is automatically recycled through magnetic separation at resource recovery plants. Steel can recycling has steadily grown from a rate of 15% in 1988 to almost 41% in 1992. However, in order to reach the 1995 yearend goal of 66%, all steel cans must be routinely recycled, including empty paint and aerosol cans and large one-gallon food cans used in food service operations. Several obstacles initially precluded aerosol cans from being recycled. Traditionally, over the last 30 to 40 years, steel can recycling was affected through detinning companies rather than steel mills. Detinners indirectly excluded aerosols because they required all post-consumer

steel cans to be de-labeled, with both ends removed and the body flattened, for their batch process. This was not a task consumers could do with aerosol cans at home. Now, steel cans, including aerosols, are simply baled and shipped directly to steel mills, eliminating the need to de-label and flatten them. The earlier exclusion of aerosols has been a persistent legacy. Many recycling coordinators and processors mistakenly believed aerosols should be treated as hazardous waste. This assumption was often based on the cautionary statements found on the cans themselves, which relate to flammability and pressurization. Fortunately, through the efforts of the Steel Recycling Institute, with its seven regional recycling managers and aerosol industry partners, the initial misunderstandings concerning aerosol can recycling are being successfully abated. The only requirement for paint and aerosol can recycling is that the cans must be empty, which would be true for any type of container to be recycled.

How do we know only empty cans are recycled?
1) Consumers tend to use u p all of a product before discarding or recycling the container. 2) Residents are educated by recycling information which advises them to include only empty cans for collection. 3 ) Collection operators typically reject any unusual items in recycling bins including any discarded full or partially full containers. 4 ) Equipment in the material recovery facility automatically separates all of the steel cans. Any minor propellant or product residuals, which may be incidentally present in any of the mixed food, beverage and aerosol cans are not affected by the baling process. The steel mills accept the empty paint and aerosol cans as part of the total steel can bale mix. Minor contamination from any source is readily consumed in the 30000F steelmaking process.
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Most recycling programs include steel cans as a standard material. The addition of empty aerosol and paint cans is logical, since they are steel cans and blend in with other steel cans. The direct benefit to the community is two-fold. First, the tonnage of steel cans recovered and sold for scrap revenue is equal to or greater than any incremental costs of collection and processing. Second, the additional tonnage recovered is diverted from unnecessary relegation to the landfill. An added

indirect benefit is that the community becomes better informed about the proper disposal of any full or partially full containers of pesticide, paint or other special wastes. This also reduces the amount of materials that might otherwise be sent to a landfill and diverts them toappropriate special collection provided by the municipality. Recycling empty aerosol and paint containers through normal curbside and drop-off programs also reduces the high cost ofspecial collection services.

WHY RECYCLE AEROSOL CANS?
1990
Return cans, bottles Recycle Newspaper Sort Trash Buy products made from or packaged in recycled materials

1992

%Increase

46% 26% 24%
14%

58%

+ 12%
+ 17%
+ll%

43%
35%
19%

+ 5%

**Research conducted by the Roper Organization in 1992 confirms recycling and sorting trash are practiced regularly by more Americans than any other actions to protect the environment.

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Steel: The Most Widely Recycled Product In The World by Bill Heenan
ncient society dating back to the Babylonian, Egyptian and Chinese civilizations, and later the Greek and Roman eras, used ferrous materials. Modern society still uses steel in a broad range of products. Every day, people use products that contain low cost, highly durable steel. Sleepers rise from beds that are supported by box springs made of steel. Coffee drinkers prepare their coffee with steel silverware. Employees drive to work in steel automobiles, then prepare a steel can full of hot soup for lunch. Almost everything one does, touches or uses relies on steel. But what's most important about steel is that it's the one material that, in today's modern technology, requires old to make new. In the United States, the electric arc furnace, which uses virtually 100% old steel (called steel scrap), produces heavy steel products, such as structural beams that hold up buildings and bridges, plates that comprise the decks and flooring of those buildings and bridges, re-bars that give the concrete the strength to rise many stories high, and a variety of other products. The basic oxygen process, which uses 25-30% steel scrap, produces flat rolled products, such as steel sheet used for the hoods, trunks and side panels of automobiles; the outer casting of appliances; and, of course, steel cans. With an average of 25 to 30% scrap in the basic oxygen process, the United States leads the world in steel recycling. The Europeans use 15 to 22% scrap and the Japanese use 8 to 15% scrap in the same steelmaking process.

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All steel, regardless of what type i t is, is recyclable for one key reason: i t has no memory. This means steel loses none of its physical characteristics or its chemical composition because it never remembers what i t was when it is used to make something new. That is, a steel can may be put into the batch to make a new steel beam for a building. Or, it could be used to make new steel for refrigerators or cars. The 1977 Buick LeSabre that is shredded for recycling is easily transformed into the needed raw material used to make a new can, another new car, a new appliance or a new structural beam. Thus, steel always has recycled content and is recyclable. Steel is magnetically pulled out of mixed recyclables or the solid waste stream. I n fact, magnetic attraction has helped make steel America's most recycled material, with more than 62 million tons ofsteel recycled in 1992 in the United States. A solid market infrastructure and simple economics made this high recycling record possible. Because steel scrap is inexpensive, i t is always cheaper to use old steel rather than raw materials. The recycling rate exceeds 95% for the ferrous portion of automobiles (which are about 70% steel), 50% for appliances, and 40% for steel cans. The Steel Recycling Institute's goal is to ensure that all materials achieve the industry average of a 66% recycling rate by 1995.

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STEEL C A N COLLECTION STATISTICS
I n 1992, 2,775,000 tons of steel cans were produced, 3 15,000 tons of which were aerosol cans.

Of those amounts, 1,135,300 tons of steel cans were recycled in 1992; and 47,000 tons of aerosol cans were recycled.
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Fourteen billion steel cans are collected for recycling annually; 426 million of which are aerosols. Aerosol cans are currently recycled by more than 600 municipalities around the country.

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CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, TIN IS STEEL.
Sure, we refer to them as tin cans, but in truth tin cans are actually steel with a very thin tin coating. These steel (or tin) cans range from your basic food can to beverage, aerosol and paint cans, not to mention quite a few other common household items like bandage boxes and cookie tins.

The Role Of Municipal Solid Waste by Curt Kemppainen Managers
he roles and responsibilities of municipal solid waste managers continue to grow both in scope and intensity. It is no longer enough for them to know how to run a landfill; they must now be able to run recycling, composting, incineration and even hazardous waste programs. Managers have moved beyond what has been the traditional approach - to collect and dispose of trash - and now must alsoaddress their community's solid waste as a material resource.
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The end result of this change in thinking is that our nation's municipal solid waste management systems are radically different than they were even 10 years ago. Although system users still dispose of a variery of materials, the amount ultimately managed as a solid waste has decreased, while the amount managed as a resource material has increased. The combination of materials management and solid waste management, along with the necessary planning, financing,


regulation, and operation, results in an integrated municipal solid waste management system which includes: Reduction-to prevent or minimize solid waste generation, or to divert materials from the solid waste stream to other management options. Recycling to remove materials from the solid waste stream and to use those materials as new products and/or other productive uses. Combustion - to combust solid waste for the purposes of volume reduction and/or energy recovery. Landfilling-- `to dispose of solid waste by the sanitary landfilling process.

Effective solid waste management allows for greater recovery and utilization of resources (energy or materials) from the municipal solid waste stream. Empty aerosol cans are easily recovered from thesolid waste stream through recycling. Including aerosols as a component of residential recycling programs makes sense not only because i t diverts unnecessary materials from landfills, but i t recovers a very necessary resource scrap steel. In addition, resources may also be recovered through combustion of empty aerosol cans. There are many combustion facilities across the United States which remove ferrous metals from ash residue.

EPA's Guidelines On Managing by Terry Grist Municipal Solid Waste

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hen the Environmental Protectior! Agency (EPA) issued the "Agenda for Action" in 1989, it called for a fundamental shift in this nation's perception of how to manage its municipal solid waste. The Agenda suggested that each community tailor its own integrated waste management system from a hierarchy of waste prevention (including reuse of products), recycling (including composting),incinerationand landfilling. The fact that EPA identified these specific components of integrated waste management as a framework for action was not in and of itself newsworthy to anyone in the solid waste arena. What was significant was the proclamation that this nation faced a municipal solid waste problem. And now there was a charter, or the first public policy document, that addressed waste prevention

and recycling as integral components of municipal solid waste management and served to legitimatize their role in municipal waste planning. The responsibility for managing municipal solid waste rests with all sectors of society. Government, business, industry,and individuals all play an important role in waste generation and management. Perhaps this is why waste prevention and management remain the most intriguing components of an overall integrated strategy for managing municipal solid waste. Waste prevention and recycling offer an arena for all sectors of society to participate and experience the benefits of participation - from individual homeowners involved in a curbside collection program to Fortune 1000companies expending millions in capital to manufacture recycled products or to re-


design products so that they produce less waste. From a local government perspective, waste prevention and recycling conserve disposal capacity, reduce the need to expand existing or site new facilities, allow local officials to devote more attention to health, education, and safety issues paramount to the welfare of local taxpayers. However, the utility of waste prevention and recycling go far beyond jurisdictional boundaries. They represent the potential for environmental, resource and economic benefits which have

much broader national and even international implications. Both waste prevention and recycling can conserve natural resources, reduce overall waste disposal costs, and reduce energy requirements and production costs in manufacturing. Both offer improved customer relations for companies and the potential to shift financial resources from improved manufacturing efficiency to expanded manufacturing capacity. This, in turn, can offer employment and business opportunities to enhance local, regional and national economies.

Conclusion

by Edgar Miller
the importance of public education in its efforts to promote recycling. When combined with solid research results, these extensive educational efforts have made i t possible to expand recycling and reduce solid waste management costs to local governments, and ultimately taxpayers who support these programs. While many efforts are underway to establish policies to increase the demand for recovered materials and to improve the long-term economics of recycling, the steel industry has proven that effective public/private partnerships can go a long way in addressing these concerns without unnecessary intervention in the market place. These efforts have been successful in tripling the steel can recycling rate over the past five years. Based on this track record, the industry is confident that its partnership efforts with the public sector will continue to produce impressive results. For more information on what your community can do to increase recycling by adding aerosol cans to your recycling program call 1 (800) 876-7274.

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s one can see, recycling empty aerosol cans makes not only environmental sense, but economic sense as well. The steel industry has worked to increase its overall recycling rate and has diligently worked to resolve any safety or regulatory concerns related to aerosol can recycling. Because recycling is a shared responsibility between government, business, industry and individuals, these parties must work together to coordinate their efforts to increase recycling nationwide. Recycling empty steel aerosol cans as part of a comprehensive recycling program is an excellent example of how all parties share in the responsibilities and benefits of increased recycling. As with any new endeavor, recycling aerosol cans may be greeted with concerns regarding safety and economic viability. However, the industry is committed to addressing these concerns and has established a notable track record in proving that recycling aerosol cans can be done safely and economically. In addition, the industry has not forgotten

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AEROSOL RECYCLING RESEARCH RESULTS
The following are excerpts taken from the Recycling Aerosol portfolio available through the Steel Recycling Institute. The "Houston Aerosol Can Recycling Evaluation,"

Spray Tecbnology and Marketing, September, 1993
During a six-week period in Houston, TX, almost 7,000 aerosol cans were collected and evaluated from curbside recycling bins. As many as 5,000 empty aerosol cans remained in the baling stream along with all other steel cans, and were processed without incident. A representative sample of 1,722 cans were diverted for analysis. Those cans were taken to Houston's Post Oak Intermediate Processing facility where they underwent a seven-step process to determine their residual levels - the mixture of product and propellant left in the can. The results showed the mean combined residual ofproduct remaining was 2.69%, well below the 3.00% level established by the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations for "empty."The Texas Water Commission determined collection and recycling of aerosols to have been accomplished safely and effectively, and supported continuation of aerosol recycling. Excerpt from Spray Technology and Marketing Magazine, March, 1993

S.C. Johnson

& Son, Inc. in concert with experts in the aerosol, steel and

recycling industries, jointly conducted a study to measure the levels of flammable vapors present during the baling process of steel cans including post-consumer aerosols. The results, based on tests conducted at four separate recycling sites, proved conclusively that recycling steel cans, including empty aerosol cans, posed no combustion concerns when crushed in a typical recycling operation. At each test site, flammable-sensing instruments were used to measure the level of vapors present at various openings on the recycling equipment. The tests determined that the levels of vapor present were all below the universallyaccepted lowest flammability range. In addition, the tests showed that the source of oxygen available inside the baler is limited and diminishes during the compacting process; thus, it is incapable of supporting sustained combustion. The research concluded that empty aerosol cans are a recommended source of recycled scrap steel, posing no additional safety concerns when co-mingled with other steel cans.

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ANSWERS TO SOME PROCESSOR QUESTIONS ABOUT AEROSOL RECYCLING

A.

Q

. Does recycling aerosols cause worker safety concerns?

Research shows that empty aerosols pose no special environmental, safety, health or flammability concerns when handled under normal conditions. Worker product contact is unlikely and does not pose a problem because if there are any remaining residual contents, they would normally be released within the baler and typically remain in the bale.

A.

Q.

Don't they explode?

No. Crushing an aerosol can simply relieves the pressure. The perception that they explode may be due to the cautionary label statements which instruct the user not to set or store the container in excessive temperatures. In those conditions, as with any sealed container, the container may burst. In the recycling facility, aerosol cans only represent a very small number in the steel can mix -typically 3-5 cans per hundred - and those cans are empty or virtually empty. Like other containers that may have held flammable materials, it would not be possible to burn any residual contents without an ignition source such as fire or flame which is highly unlikely in a bale of steel cans.

A.

Q.

Some processors have asked if there was anything remaining in the can, would it be chemically reactive during the baling process?
Highly reactive chemicals are not used in aerosols - they would not be stable in the container.

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