Councils urged to collect aerosols and foil

WRAP compared this to the number of councils collecting just clean aluminium foil alongside mixed cans (197) and aerosols alongside mixed cans (273).

WRAP claimed that these figures, supplied by aluminium packaging recycling organisation Alupro, showed a “potentially valuable opportunity” for councils if they could add both clean aluminium foil and aerosols to existing collections of mixed cans.

The WRAP guidance stated that the materials could be added to collections at “no extra cost” as they could be collected in existing collection vehicles without taking up “significant capacity”.

However, it did state that councils using commingled collections would have to ensure that their designated MRF had the ability to take and sort aerosols and clean foil collected. The organisation used the example of Fenland district council, which introduced aerosols and clean foil collections in 2006 after undertaking a series of alterations to its own MRF to allow it to sort more material streams.

Publication of the WRAP document comes one-month after Alupro outlined that it would be launching a campaign to encourage the collection of aerosols and clean foil by local authorities (see letsrecycle.com story).

Introduction

In addition, WRAP outlined the monetary value in collecting more aluminium, claiming that the current market value for baled aluminium cans was £560 per tonne, while foil could fetch £90 per tonne.

It said: “The high energy costs for producing aluminium from raw materials means that there are high prices paid for clean streams of post-consumer aluminium. This material commands the highest price per tonne for kerbside collected recyclate.”

In order to introduce effective collections, WRAP said it was important to publicise the change to residents and tackle fears about aerosols exploding.

The organisation added that local authorities should tell residents that they could only recycle fully empty aerosols and should keep them mixed with other cans. WRAP explained that research by the British Aersols Manufacturers' Association (BAMA) showed that there was minimal risk of an incident with aerosols given the small volume of material being collected.