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State-of-the-Art Aerosol Recycling Technology
Learn all about aerosol can recycling and our innovative Aerosol Recycling Technology (ART). It’s the only U.S. solution to recycle or reuse 100% of the can.Byline: BTB Editor
May 28, 2025 / Time to read: 4 minutesThe U.S. produces billions of aerosol cans each year, with contents ranging from personal care, food, cleaning and automotive products to first aid and safety products, including
Why Is Aerosol Can Disposal So Challenging?
Trying to dispose of or
Aerosol Cans May Remain Pressurized After Use
To make an aerosol product easy to use,
Aerosol Cans Often Contain Hazardous Chemicals
Industrial uses for aerosol cans include paint, cleaners, varnishes, maintenance products and insecticides — most of which are
Aerosol Cans Are Usually Flammable
Most aerosol cans use a
Because they might explode, aerosol cans can’t safely be disposed of in the trash or recycling bin like other kinds of waste. Instead, these products require a specialized process to separate their components and recycle them individually.
How Aerosol Can Recycling Works
Few companies have facilities and the right aerosol can recycling equipment to fully and safely handle this type of specialized container. The facilities that do typically follow these steps:
- Aerosol cans are transferred into an airtight, inert chamber system.
- Machinery compacts them under vacuum, releasing liquid and gas contents into the closed system.
- The metals — aluminum or steel — are compressed into dry metal bricks that can be recycled in many ways.
- Liquids flow into other chambers to be processed into alternative, reusable fuel.
- Gasses rise into a third chamber where they’re captured and purified into a liquid fuel — similar to liquid petroleum gas — as an additional form of recyclable fuel.
- Throughout the process, oxygen monitoring sensors ensure the safety of the operating team and the environment.
How Republic Services Can Help
Republic Services has state-of-the-art Aerosol Recycling Technology (ART) that safely and compliantly recycles 100% of aerosol waste. With ART, we’ve helped companies meet or exceed compliance standards while minimizing their environmental footprint and simplifying their aerosol waste.
Some disposal systems make you purchase specialized aerosol can recycling equipment to safely puncture and remove the contents of the cans, but leave your workers to safely store and dispose of all the components themselves. With these solutions, you may have barrels of hazardous propellant and bins of spent cans sitting around your facility. Instead, we take care of everything.
The Republic Services ART system:
- Provides safe, compliant, landfill-free aerosol recycling
- Produces recyclable metal, plus reusable alternative and liquid fuels
- Generates zero emissions
- Is mixed-batch capable
Our ART facilities are located in Beatty, Nevada and Romulus, Michigan.
ART in Action
Leading crop management company, Semios, developed a pesticide-free agricultural solution to help protect crops from insects. The solution uses aerosol cans to release carefully-timed pheromones into the air near crops, interrupting insect breeding cycles and minimizing pests instead of killing them with pesticides.
Although Semios was already helping keep hazardous waste out of the environment, the company wanted to reduce its environmental impact further. US Ecology, a recent Republic Services acquisition, helped them recycle or reuse 100% of their aerosol cans — a total of
If you have aerosol waste, let us help you recycle all of it with ART.
