Alupro’s new “the lonely aerosol” campaign to target social media users

Alupro, a company that recycles aluminium packaging, has launched a digital campaign to urge people to recycle their old aerosol cans. 'The lonely aerosol,' which will run from 18 January to mid-March, will target social media users with a series of imaginative digital animations.

Each animated figure has been made to reflect the variety of aerosol canisters found in the house while sharing best practise recycling tips. The amusing characters will teach viewers about the crucial significance of aerosol recycling, from 'Pump up the Volume,' a gorgeous hairspray can, to 'Any Old Oil,' a wise old oil can in the garage.

The online campaign is part of a larger cross-industry initiative led by Alupro and implemented in collaboration with Ball Aerocan and the British Aerosol Manufacturers Association (BAMA), which aims to establish a proper baseline for aerosol recycling rates and address the issue of aerosol recycling in a post-DRS collection system. Despite the fact that 95% of UK authorities provide kerbside aerosol recycling collection, only 46% of aerosols are appropriately separated for recycling by consumers, indicating that greater awareness is required.

“With the introduction of a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) set to be introduced across England in 2024, estimates suggest that more than 70% of drinks cans will be removed from kerbside recycling stream almost overnight. This makes it imperative to improve recycling rates for other forms of aluminium packaging – including aerosol containers,” said Tom Giddings, general manager of the Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro).

“However, when considered on their own, aerosols consistently top WRAP’s annual list of confusing consumer packaging types. Furthermore, our own research has found that householders are more likely to landfill aerosol containers than separate them for recycling – a hugely disappointing statistic. Our digital engagement campaign, ‘the lonely aerosol’, aims to convey an important message. As a society, we need to improve packaging recycling rates and, as an industry, we need to be aware that changes to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation will require evidence of good recycling performance,” added Tom Giddings.

“We’re confident that our digital engagement campaign will prove hugely valuable in increasing national awareness of the need to recycle aerosol containers and sharing best practice of how best to do so,” stated Mr Giddings.