Written on: August 1, 2021 by Nicholas Georges
Every year, the Household & Commercial Products Association (HCPA) conducts its Aerosol Pressurized Products Survey, which is meant to report on the unit production of aerosol products, valves and containers in the U.S. This year 
marks the 70th consecutive year of the survey, with questionnaires being sent to every known aerosol filler, container and valve manufacturer across the U.S. However, unlike other years, HCPA will not publish a Survey Report because of the low response rate from aerosol fillers. Many of the aerosol fillers that usually participate in the survey could not this year due to resource constraints as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are always companies that, for various reasons, are not able to participate in the survey. For these cases, Association Research Inc. (ARI), the third-party firm that conducts the survey, works with the Survey Committee to estimate the missing production information for each product category. Historically, participation from aerosol fillers has been more than 90%, which allowed the Survey Committee to accurately estimate the remaining data.
Due to the low participation rate this year, ARI was not able to share any data from participating aerosol fillers in order to protect their confidential business information (CBI). Therefore, the Survey Committee could not accurately estimate the significant portion of the aerosol industry that did not respond to the survey.
Aerosol container and valve manufacturers participated in the 2020 survey as they normally would have, so the Survey Committee was able to report the following data:
• Production of aerosol containers was up 3.6% year-over-year to 3.752 billion total containers
• Of those 3.752 billion total containers, 743.6 million were aluminum (up 0.54% from 2019) and 3.009 billion were steel (up 4.38% from 2019)
• There were 3.555 billion valves produced in 2020, up 2.69% year-over-year
• There were 255.3 million bag-on-valve (BOV) aerosols produced in 2020, up 14.51% year-over-year
From this data, we can infer that aerosol unit production likely increased in the U.S. in 2020 based on the increases in container and valve markets. Based on changes in consumer behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is likely that certain product subcategories, such as aerosol disinfectant products, would have seen record highs. Unfortunately, there is no way to confirm these assumptions because the industry does not have another system in place (beyond the Aerosol Pressurized Products Survey) to capture such information.
This survey has long been a valuable tool for the aerosol industry. Companies can gauge their overall growth in comparison to the industry, identify potential opportunities within product categories and reassess sales strategies, production planning and future investments. Beyond these uses within the industry, the data and results can also be used to communicate with legislators, regulators and other key stakeholders about the economic impact of the aerosol industry.
COVID-19 has not only disrupted businesses, but also lives. In fact, ARI received feedback from many aerosol fillers that usually participate in the survey that the pandemic made it impossible for them to accumulate and submit data this year.
The Survey Committee would like to thank everyone who was able to participate in this year’s survey and hopes that next year sees a higher level of participation in order to provide a more robust and comprehensive snapshot of the aerosol industry.
Please contact Nicholas Georges at ngeorges@thehcpa.org with any feedback on the 2020 survey or suggestions for the 2021 Survey. SPRAY
