Global Aerosol Can Production

According to the statistical report of the European Aerosol Alliance (FEA), the total global aerosol can production in 2023 will exceed 15.5 billion cans, ranking first in the world in terms of production in Europe. The total production has slightly decreased compared to last year, reaching about 5.288 billion cans, with the UK, Germany, and France accounting for over 55% of all aerosol production in Europe. In addition, major aerosol producing countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain produced over 4 billion cans of aerosols in 2023.

The United States ranks second in the world in aerosol production, with a total production of approximately 3.752 billion cans. China ranks third in the world in terms of aerosol production. According to the latest statistics from the Aerosol Professional Committee of the China Packaging Federation, the annual production of aerosols in China will be approximately 2.475 billion cans in 2023. Brazil ranks fourth in the world in aerosol production, with a total production of approximately 1.202 billion cans, while Argentina ranks fifth with a total production of 864 million cans.

Proportion of European aerosol product types

Personal care and home care aerosol products account for over three-quarters of the total aerosol production in Europe. The proportion of personal care aerosol products reached 56.4%, while the proportion of home care products was 19.4%. Aerosol packaging containers are mainly made of iron and aluminum aerosols, while glass and plastic containers are still in a peripheral position.

Among personal care products, the production of deodorizers/antiperspirants accounts for the highest proportion, with a production of over 1.783 billion cans. Next is hair gel ➡ Hair mousse → Shaving mousse/gel.

Among household care products, air fresheners have the highest proportion, with a production of over 470 million cans. Next is insecticide/plant protection ➡ Care products (fabrics, furniture, leather, shoes, textiles, etc.) → Other products → Cleaning products.

Among the other categories of aerosol products, paint&varnish has the highest proportion, with a total production of about 324 million cans, followed closely by industrial and technical supplies with an annual production of about 284 million cans, food aerosols with a production of about 259 million cans, and automotive supplies with a production of about 182 million cans. The total amount of pharmaceutical and animal care products is approximately 109 million cans.

Tin plated steel arrives in coils from the steelworks. Each one is about 4km long and a metre wide.

A colour printing press prints the can graphics directly onto the steel sheet before the sheet is slit and chopped to smaller sheets for bending into the can cylinders.

Welding the seam

The aerosol can welding process. Two copper electrodes roll alond the seen. A large electric current passes between the elctrodes and melts the two peices of steel together.

Welding the sheet edges together using electric current. Two electrodes press against the steel, one from outside and one from inside. The electrodes are connected to a power supply that drives a huge current of up to 5000 Amps through the metal. This melts the two overlapping layers together. This is called resistive welding. The current is pulsed at high frequency, one pulse for each spot or 'nugget' on the weld. To make a long seam the electrodes need to be wheels to roll along the can.

Making the perfect electrode wheel

For a perfect leak-proof welded seam the electrode wheels must also be perfect. After only one turn a copper wheel would pick up blobs of molten metal and be useless. The solution is to run copper wire round the wheels that is never re-used. The copper is recycled and made into new wire so the cost is reduced. 

The copper wire always presents  perfect new electrode surfaces as it is only used once. Getting the inner wheel into the inside of the can is not so easy as the can is moving in one direction. The trick is to curl the can into a cylinder just before it gets to the wheels.

There is a "nugget" for each pulse of current. The nuggets must just overlap. The slightest gap would cause a leak. Engineers regularly inspect the welds with a microscope.

A aerosol tin can approaches the wheels from the left. It has just been curved around the inner wire.

Hiding the seam

The seam on aerosol tin cans is a problem for can designers. The aerosol can is printed when it is flat sheet and then bent and welded. As ink is an insulator it must not cover the seam because it will stop the welding current from flowing though the tinplate sheet metal. This leaves an unprintable stripe on the can.

Engineers have managed to reduce the width of the stripe from 5mm to 1.5mm. Now that you have seen how the seam is made you can see that this is a big precision engineering achievement.

The final process is to add the aerosol can top (cone) and bottom (dome)