Written on: January 1, 2025 by Patrick Heskins
Those who take the time to read my columns (and thank you if you do) will know that the UK is very busy at the moment writing new regulations to improve recovery and recycling rates for packaging. In fact, this is something that most major, developed economies appear to be working on.
The question about packaging, for any aerosol dispenser, is an odd one. Aerosols are certainly a package, and it has elements that are packaging. However, the aerosol system works holistically. One needs a container that can withstand both the pressure of the propellant gas, and the chemicals and ingredients used in the formulation. Plus, the formulation and the propellant gas, whether one is using liquefied gas or compressed gas, must be compatible with one another.
We know legislators are looking to bring forward regulations to make products simpler to recycle by mandating fundamental design changes; I think that the best people to work out how this can be done for aerosols are those working in the aerosol industry.
The valve must be sealed onto the container, in much the same way that a screw top needs to be sealed onto a bottle, but the valve does much more than merely keep the product inside. Along with the actuator, the product’s formulations and the gas, the valve controls the way the product is dispensed, creating the consumer experience.
If you are reading SPRAY Technology & Marketing, then I suspect that much of this will not be news to you. However, it will probably be news to those who work in a regulatory capacity. After all, often from an outside perspective, packaging is packaging—isn’t it?
Simplifying aerosol recycling
Aerosol dispensers are a special case when it comes to the package, and it is incumbent upon those of us who work in the aerosol industry to ensure that those who make the rules around packaging—and how packaging is recovered and recycled—understand why an aerosol might need to be considered a little differently. It would be very difficult, nay impossible, to make an aerosol out of a mono-material conforming to the current regulation. However, there are some simple things we can do to make the package easier to recycle.
Over the coming months, the British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association (BAMA) will be working with our members to consider what industry might do to make the aerosol package simpler to recycle, both for the consumer and for when the product enters and exits the recycling system.
We know legislators are looking to bring forward regulations to make products simpler to recycle by mandating fundamental design changes. I think that the best people to work out how this can be done for aerosols are those working in the aerosol industry. Our ambition is to try and get ahead of the game and look at what changes we might suggest before others, with less experience, do.
I look forward to sharing the outcome of these discussions with you sometime in the very near future. SPRAY
