Health and safety issues in post-consumer aerosol container recycling

Post-consumer aerosol cans are being recovered for recycling through material reclamation facilities (MRFs). This paper reviews current practice on the basis of the published reports and the experience of MRFs. The general conclusion of the risk assessments reviewed is that although potential hazards arise from flammable or harmful residual contents, empty aerosol containers may be included in the domestic post-consumer waste recycling stream provided a number of basic precautions are taken to control risks to an acceptable level. Principle amongst these precautions is that only empty aerosols derived from the domestic waste stream should be handled by a MRF and these should not be segregated from the steel and aluminium streams. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.