trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/lbu61ljykujrb5w8gormra2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Proposed federal aerosol rule could cut costs for retailers

Blog

Using ESG Analysis to Support a Sustainable Future

Video

S&P Capital IQ Pro | Powered by Expert Insights

Blog

Q&A: Streamlining Analytics for TCFD Reporting

Blog

Evergrande and the wider impact: a sentiment analytics based perspective


Proposed federal aerosol rule could cut costs for retailers

A proposed change to federal laws could make disposing of aerosol cans easier and cheaper for retailers, a retail trade group said May 15.

The Retail Industry Leaders Association, or RILA, said it supports the proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency, which would classify aerosol cans as "universal waste," lowering some barriers around how the cans can be disposed of or recycled.

Currently, aerosol cans are considered "hazardous waste" under federal law. If the rule is adopted, retailers and others involved in the disposal of aerosol cans would be able to store greater quantities of the cans for longer periods of time. Laws governing transporting the cans, which can be flammable, would also be relaxed.

The current law "imposes tremendous costs to America's retailers and makes recycling difficult," RILA Vice President of Government Affairs Austen Jensen said in a statement. Collectively, retailers spend "tens of millions of dollars each year" handling the cans, including those from returned or expired products, Jensen added.

But RILA also said that the EPA's proposed rule does not go far enough, leaving out damaged aerosol containers; cans that only contain gas, such as compressed air products used to clean computer keyboards; and others that do not aerate the product as it is dispensed, such as certain shaving gels.

Additionally, the EPA's proposal fails to clarify whether empty aerosol cans would be subject to the reclassification, RILA said in its letter.

"We are concerned ... that the scope of the proposal has been unnecessarily and inappropriately narrowed in certain ways that would make the universal waste rule unworkable," the group said.

RILA's letter to the EPA comes at the end of a 60-day comment period for the proposed rule change. The agency first unveiled the proposal in March.

Aerosol cans, used for products ranging from cooking oil to hairspray, make up a significant portion of potentially dangerous waste produced by retailers. Manufacturers in the U.S. filled about 3.82 billion of the cans in 2015, according to the Consumer Specialty Products Association.

The containers account for about 40% of hazardous waste items from retailers, according to the EPA.

If approved, the rule change would "promote the collection and recycling of aerosol cans" as well as spur businesses and municipal governments to reduce the number of aerosol cans that end up in landfills or at garbage processing facilities, the EPA said. The cost savings from those changes could add up to about $3 million, the agency said in March.

RILA, which is based in Arlington, Va., counts major U.S. retailers, including Walmart Inc. and Home Depot Inc., among its members. The Personal Care Products Council, a trade group representing consumer goods makers including U.S. subsidiaries of Unilever PLC and L'Oréal SA, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the EPA's proposal.