Bath and North East Somerset Council has joined a UK nationwide project to improve post-consumer aerosol recycling, funded by Alupro via the UK Aerosol Recycling Initiative (UKARI).
The nationwide project is facilitated by SUEZ recycling and recovery UK.
The four-phase programme began with kerbside waste composition sampling to establish a baseline across the area.
The project measures aerosol capture, sorting and recycling volumes and is now supported by a targeted communications campaign to raise resident awareness and encourage correct disposal.
Further sampling will assess the impact of the outreach work, with a follow-up audit in six months to evaluate longer-term results.
Insights from the council’s trial will be combined with data from other local authority pilots to produce a representative view of UK residual waste composition and understand how communications influence consumer recycling behaviour.
Bath and North East Somerset Council Cabinet Member for Resources Councillor Mark Elliott stated: “We are really pleased to be one of four local authorities taking part in these trials. We have already achieved an outstanding 60% recycling rate in 2024/25 and partnering with Alupro and SUEZ on this initiative to give residents clear advice on how to recycle aerosols should help to increase the number of empty aerosols placed in household recycling green boxes.”
UKARI estimates that 650 million metal aerosols are sold annually in the UK, with just over 500 million believed to be collected via kerbside systems.
From 2024/25, extended producer responsibility reforms will require producers to cover the full net cost of managing packaging waste, including modulated fees to incentivise more recyclable formats.
The initiative also warns that the forthcoming deposit return scheme is expected to divert most used beverage cans, leaving aerosols and other aluminium packaging types to meet a mandatory 50% recycling target by 2030.
UKARI notes that aerosols face particular challenges related to safety perceptions, mixed materials and consumer uncertainty.
UKARI’s goals include raising kerbside aerosol capture rates above 75% by 2030 and improving recycling outcomes through interventions that demonstrate strong returns on investment.
Alupro executive director Tom Giddings added: “We’re delighted that Bath and North East Somerset Council is taking part in our initiative to understand collection volumes and examine the role of communications in driving positive change. Once complete, the project will help to inform national thinking when it comes to increasing aerosol recycling rates.”
